HILLSBOROUGH COUNTY, Fla. — The holidays can be hard on anyone, but spending the holidays in the hospital is a challenge these bay area families never signed up for.
"It's hard. It’s hard. For the second year in a row, my older two dance and, we ended up here on their big nutcracker production weekend," Kristina Shea said.
Shea's four-year-old daughter has special needs and much like last Christmas; her family is spending a lot of time at St. Joseph’s Children’s Hospital.
"It's challenging, and you want it to, you hope for it to be such a happy time. And instead, you're worried about one kiddo while trying to be present and happy for the others and it's just a juggling act," Shea explained.
It’s why every year Child Life Specialists at St. Joseph’s Children’s Hospital along with volunteers, put together Santa’s Secret Shop.
Families can pick out ten gifts for the patient and their siblings.
“It’s a really hard time of year for a lot of families who have kids who are sick and hospitalized. It makes it stressful financially. They don’t have time to go shopping and it’s hard to be in the hospital at the holidays so for us to alleviate some of that stress for them, it’s invaluable," Hannah Murray, Certified Child Life Specialist, said.
While walking through hospital hallways can be a memory some people wish to forget, Aubriana Spiering, wouldn’t miss the chance to volunteer, as she knows what a simply wrapped gift truly means.
"I used to be in the hospital and I got a lot of gifts from people and it made me really happy to think that other people are thinking of me, and there's so many people donating today. And there's so many toys because of all those people that are thinking of the kids in the hospital," Spiering explained.
From stuffed animals to Airpods, the gift of giving is helping these parents get through some of the hardest moments of their lives.
"It's uplifting and heartwarming and I can't express enough how much I appreciate that we're thought of as a family and not just patients," Shea said.
