PLANO – Without directly saying so, Kris Sanders acknowledged what type of impact athletes like the Mavericks can have
on an impressionable kid’s life.
Such was the case Tuesday when Mavs players Dwight Powell, Josh Green and Grant Williams – along with Shiftkey — took time out of their busy schedule to visit the patients at Children’s Medical Center Plano to help them celebrate Halloween in a very big way.
“It’s Halloween in a pediatric hospital, so it’s like our Super Bowl or our championship game,” said Sanders, who is the senior vice-president of Northern Market Growth and Development of Children’s Health Plano. “So, to have the Mavs to come and spend time with our kids who are not able to go home today, it meant the world to them.
“Our hearts are full, some of our bellies are full from the candy, some of our feet are tired. But it meant the world to them, so it makes the most difference.”
The Mavs had wagons filled with goodies to give the patients, and they also handed out Mavs swag with the Halloween treats.
“Halloween is one of those, quote un-quote, holidays that’s for the kids,” Powell said. “You get to dress up, trick or treat and spend time with your friends and family going door to door.
“So, for the kids here that aren’t able to do that, it’s big for us to be able to come here and bring a little bit of Halloween fun to them. To see the smiles on their faces when we bring the goodie bag and all that is great, so it’s really fun.”
Green said holidays are a time of fun and being together, and he wanted to help spread some joy one day after the Mavs won in Memphis to bring their record to a perfect 3-0.
“Honestly, it’s always fun being able to walk in the room and just see a smile on a kid’s face,” Green said. “It’s refreshing, it’s nice and it just makes you feel good.
“A smile always helps everyone out, so I would say that was my favorite thing. And also just hearing different hobbies these kids have. And also, Grant. Grant listed about 20 hobbies he has.”
Williams pointed out that days like Tuesday are just as special for him as it for the patients.
“It was a special experience being able to be there for the children and to put smiles on their faces,” he said. “Our job is just coming here and trying to be an inspiration, and also bring some joy and give a couple of laughs every now and then, too.
“We try to continue to bring that level of excitement and joy, not only just to the court but also to life and day-to-day. Coming h
ere today reminds you of that.”
In addition to the players, also representing the Mavs on Tuesday were the ManiAACs, the D-Town crew and several front office employees.
“We have such a great relationship with Children’s Health, so anytime we have an opportunity to come here and spread some joy and visit patients it’s always so special to us,” said Emily Honeycutt, the corporate social responsibility manager for the Mavs. “So, getting to come here on Halloween was really special. Just having the kiddos dressed up and ourselves dressed up was really amazing, and we got to have a lot of fun.”
A lot of the fun came from just seeing the wide-eyed expressions on the players’ face after they visited the patients in their room.
“I just love like seeing their energy when they come out of a room,” Honeycutt said. “It is so special. You can tell that they really feed off that 
energy in getting to see the kiddos and learn about them and seeing them come out of the room is really great, because they all come out with a big smile on their face.
“A big part of Halloween is leaving your house and going door to door and trick or treating. And (the patients) not having that option, it feels really special to be able to come in here and visit them and give them goodies and bring some fun to their room.”
Powell said while the patients may have been the big winners Tuesday, he learned plenty from them.
“I’ve done a lot of visits, but I think I’ve separated myself a lot from the generation of kids in terms of this stuff that they’re doing,” Powell said. “Some video games and slime and all the different arts and crafts – they’ve got some really cool stuff going on. So, thankfully they shared a bunch of their toys with us and taught us some things about the fun that they’re having, so that was really cool.
“It means the world to get a chance to be here at such a great facility and spend some time with the kids. Especially around this time of year as we kind of approach the main holiday season. To be able to see the smiles on their faces, enjoy some jokes and some laughs, but also the opportunity to drop off some gifts and candies, it’s a blessing.”
Sanders noted that it’s important that the patients at the hospital see a bit of the outside world, if for no other reason than to keep their spirits up. Appearances by the Mavs helped with that.
“A lot of what they see right now is only on TV or clinical and hospital workers, so to bring in folks from the outside world means so much to these kiddos, especially on a holiday like Halloween,” Sanders said. “Kids are resilient. They are very resilient. However, they do have down times and they do have some moments in which we really need to bring them joy, and this is one of those moments.
“Today was one of those days where we were able to really get to see them smile, and some of them for the first time in a while. So, this meant the world to a lot of them, and I saw their smiles. I saw how excited they were when they walk down the hall or they see a team that they know and they recognize. So, we welcome all of them to come and to pay us a visit at some point in time, but we absolutely love when the Dallas Mavericks are here in our hospital and we welcome them back for sure.”
X: @DwainPrice
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