Clown Chaplains

[Just Plain Ruff]

I got this email from a friend. He put the source at the bottom of the story. It's a feelgood story. It qualifies for the funny section because clowns are involved.

Charlie's Chaplains

Day 232

In 1991, Chaplain Robert Ford approached Pastor Dana "Bubbles" McKim to discuss the possibility of establishing a clown hospital ministry at Frye Regional Medical Center. Chaplain Ford found his inspiration for this idea when he read about a similar ministry that made its visitations on a three-wheeled humor buggy. McKim loved the idea and joined forces with Pastor Danny "Snickers" Leonard to help forge this new adventure. Both Dana and Danny were already involved in clown ministry, and they devised a training program, which trained 45 eager students. Thus was born "Charlie's Chaplains" at Frye Regional Medical Center in Hickory, North Carolina.

"This was a big experiment in creative humor therapy and we had a great time. We didn't have difficulty getting a crowd of people to respond," Danny Leonard explains. "We are just thrilled beyond imagination that something would continue to grow and gain worldwide attention as Charlie's Chaplains has now. The group's mission has always been to do nothing more than to cheer the patients up through a gentle presence as a means of taking the patients' minds off their current health condition or painful situation.

"The goal of Charlie's Chaplains is very simple," Leonard says. "It is about providing a holy interruption, if only for one second. When you enter patients' rooms, if they can forget the situation they're in—it has been a successful experience."

After sixteen years, a new generation of Charlie's Chaplains entertains monthly at FRMC. The group encompasses a number of professional entertainers who donate their services, along with other specially trained community volunteers who offer uplifting performances. The hospital ministry is now a creative ministry, representing several disciplines with the group's talent pool, and was recently featured on the front page of The Hospital Clown Newsletter, which is distributed worldwide through paid subscriptions.

Charlie's Chaplains makes rounds to cheer FRMC patients monthly and has a party for the children at the hospital's mental health facility. The group also participates in select community events in tandem with FRMC.

Patients are always our primary focus during visitation. Charlie's Chaplains is comprised of members with varied interests and talents, which adds to the mix when entertaining the patients. We have a well-known professional teen magician, "Magic's Royal Duke Sammy Cortino," who performs simple close-up magic routines. Another seasoned clown juggler, Vince "Zenzel" Ferretti, brings a real air of wonder to our traveling show. Music is an added element to our visits, as one of our professionals is international award-winner: "The Whistling Woman," Phyllis Heil. Several of our members bring along puppets to interact with the patients and their visiting team members. The rule of the day in rounds is that simple is always best. If the patient is under heavy medication, he or she will not really be able to fully participate or grasp the concept of a long or intricate presentation. We try to notice and consider the patient's condition and alertness.

Analyzing the environment in the room also plays an important role in determining our performance–Are there visitors? What is the mood in the room? Sometimes our gentle presence is enough, with a smile and wave, to brighten a patient's day. Sometimes that is all the energy they may have to take in what we can offer.

We entertain the staff at the nurses' station and in the hallways, as schedule allows. The staff appreciates stress-relieving moments with us. Visitors are often treated to entertainment in the patients' rooms, but sometimes we catch them by surprise in the hallways, waiting rooms, elevators, and lobby.

Over the years, we have had many experiences that have left indelible prints on our collective hearts. The patients, visitors, and staff often tell us how much they enjoy our visits and performances, and sometimes we are even surprised by our patients' reactions to our work. We were all thrilled when a gentleman in his seventies whipped out his harmonica and played us a tune after we sang Happy Birthday.

Our clown ministry gives us the opportunity to brighten patients' lives as they experience trying times. We are grateful to be able to collectively heal our community with humor, joy, and love.

—Submitted by Becky Cortino, Frye Regional Medical Center, Hickory, NC

This story was excerpted from What's Right in Health Care, 365 Stories of Purpose Worthwhile Work, and Making a Difference (Fire Starter Publishing, ISBN 978-0-9749986-4-0) and is available at http://www.studergroup.com/.