While kids across the Metroplex will costume up and hit the neighborhood streets to trick-or-treat, the pediatric patients at Children’s Medical Center Plano will have an untraditional Halloween.
But, this October, the Dallas Mavericks and ShiftKey teamed up to ensure the kids, families, and care teams got a taste of the Halloween spirit.
Mascot Champ, the ManiAACs and D-Town Crew led the spirit squad as they visited patient rooms with buckets of Halloween treats, Mavs swag, and goody bags for the hospital staff.
Mavericks players Quentin Grimes, Maxi Kleber and Dwight Powell also joined the fun and visited with patients and their families.
“It’s super important to come out here for me, especially Children’s Health, to see the smiles on their faces, and to be able to share even a couple small moments with the kids,” said Powell, who has become a regular at Mavericks hospital visits throughout his tenure with the team.
“These kids are going through real adversity. They’re facing real challenges. We all have challenges and adversity we face in life, so being able to see these kids in this environment is something we can look up to…To be able to share a moment of joy with them is such a blessing.”
Grimes, who has quickly jumped into community initiatives with his new team, was a first-time visitor at Children’s Health, ready to bring some holiday excitement.
“It’s great [being in the community],” said Grimes. “I did it through my first three years in the League, so I try to make it a staple to be present around the holidays. Just giving back to people who kind of look up to us, in a sense, and put a smile on kids’ faces honestly means everything.”
Shortly after the visit concluded, Jennifer Roady, the manager of family support services at Children’s Medical Center Plano, spoke about the lingering energy that will be felt in patient rooms even beyond Halloween.
“The energy stays,” said Roady. “It helps our kids maintain positivity and lets them know that they may be having some tough times right now, but they’re still kids, and we want them to be kids.”
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