The Season of Giving marches on for the Dallas Mavericks, and their latest mission to spread holiday cheer included a very special visit to Children’s Medical Center Dallas.
Mascot Champ tossed on his festive sweater, assembled the Mavs ManiAACs and D-Town Crew, and called in a favor from Santa Claus himself to ensure the young patients at Children’s Health experienced holiday magic during the team’s visit on Monday, Dec. 9.
With help from ShiftKey, the Mavs Foundation planned an afternoon for holiday crafting and games and gave each child a stocking overflowing with gifts and plenty of Mavs swag.
“[This time of year] is especially important because kids just want to be kids, and a lot of these kids are missing their holiday parties at school or they’re not able to go to their family parties,” said Kendall Rowden, manager of corporate partnerships for the Children’s Medical Center Foundation at Children’s Health. “Our mission is to make life better for children, and the Mavs are a hometown team. Everybody knows and loves them, so to have the team come to the hospital brings so many smiles and so much joy to our patient families.”
The visit also reached far beyond the Children’s Health Dallas campus, when the spirit squad stopped by the hospital’s Seacrest Studios to host a special-edition holiday game show broadcast to patients throughout surrounding specialty clinics and across the Plano campus.
“With ShiftKey predominantly being in the healthcare space, it’s so cool to see not just that the patients here, but the people that take care of those patients every day and pour into these kids, giving them hope,” said Matt Clark, general manager of ShiftKey’s acute division, who didn’t shy away from the opportunity to play silly games for the patients streaming the holiday show.
“It’s so important for the Dallas Mavericks to give back to our community, especially during the Season of Giving,” said Emily Honeycutt, Mavs Foundation manager. “Whenever we’re able to come out to the hospitals and visit these kiddos, it just brings so much joy and so much cheer to everyone involved, and we are so excited to be here once again during the holiday season to spread that joy.”
Bringing hope, laughter and a touch of holiday magic were at the top of the agenda for the Mavs Foundation during Monday’s visit, and they will continue to push ahead on their mission to support families across North Texas during the Season of Giving.