A group of South Florida pre-med students helped grant a festive wish for pediatric cancer patients at Broward Health Medical Center.
Students from American Heritage Schools’ pre-medical program came together to throw a festive holiday bash for the kids.
“We are trying to make more of an impact on quality of life. We know that there is so much research done towards treatment and everything, we are just trying to make the holiday season a little bit brighter for each child,” said student Kennedy Deitsch.
The students were able to pull off the celebration after beginning their planning during a pizza party they had with the children in October.
“The volunteers from American Heritage got to meet the patients from the hematology and oncology unit, and they sat down with them, played games, they had pizza, they helped them write a list for Santa Claus,” said Carlos Pulido, the medical studies program director at American Heritage Schools.
The medical center then helped those students raise the funds they needed to grant as many wish list items as they could.
“We raised over $40,000 and then those funds were used to fulfill most of everything from those children,” said Pulido.
From there, students went from one store to the next, knocking out everything they could from each child’s list.
The months-long effort culminated in students helping Santa Claus fulfill those wishes and bring a memorable Christmas holiday for the children.
“It is just so rewarding because you really feel like you’re making a direct impact and then when we are all wrapping the presents or playing Christmas music, it’s just a super fun environment to be in and it really just brings us closer as a community,” said Deitsch.
For some students, all that effort was more than just an act of giving.
“The smiles on these children’s faces when they see they really got what they want from Santa, it just makes your heart so happy,” said student Lahari Challa.
The kids were over the moon once they found out that Santa got exactly what they wanted.
The kids’ parents cherished the moment.
“I’ve never seen her this happy. It made me feel some type of way, very happy, very emotional,” said Ivonne Cardona.
This marked the 26th year pre-med students from the Broward and Palm Beach campuses have hosted the holiday party.