Step Up For Lurie Children’s Hospital

Location: AON Center

Date: Sunday, January 26, 2014; 10:00 am-1:30 pm

I had volunteered at a walk to benefit Lurie Children’s Hospital and was on their mailing list for other opportunities.  I received an email where they required help for this event and so I signed up; and plus it was at the ‘Aon Center’ near me.  This is a 80 floor building and today people would be climbing up to the top.  I received my assignment a few days prior and I was on the 2^nd shift for the gear check.  Even though the building was nearby, the conditions were cold and very slippery, and the short walk over there was as challenging as any that I have undertaken.  It took me some time to locate the right entrance, and I walked in to find that the place was busy with climbers, volunteers and other people who were there for whatever reasons people come out on a cold Sunday.  I made my way to the volunteer check-in room and no sooner had I placed my coat there, then they asked for 5 people to report for the gear check. I raised my hand since that’s what I was there for, though I noticed that not many volunteered for the role.  It’s not as if they were recruiting for taking out the trash were they?

Bags everywhere

There was a lot of activity in the gear check area and in general it resembled a form of controlled chaos. Garbage bags were being used to store gear and I saw that they were organized by numbered groupings, such as 100-200, 200-300 etc.  Once someone handed their gear, we were to note down their bib number and then depending on which grouping it belonged to, the bag was placed accordingly.  It was a similar concept to the one we had used at a previous project where I had done gear check.  Since the climbers had been departing in staggered formation, starting from early morning, to the final batch just after noon, many folks were picking up their stuff while the others were dropping off.  For starters I stood in the back, ready to hand off bags as numbers were called.  I did that for some time and I was right about referring to this as “controlled chaos”, for while there were indeed a lot of volunteers and bags, this was an efficient operation and people were getting their gear in a timely manner.

The earlier shift of volunteers left and now I could move up to the front tables to collect the gear.  There were several garbage bags laid out, along with markers to note down the bib numbers.  As people came in and I prepared a bag for them, I was to hold it open so that they could stuff their belongings inside.  Then I was to tie the bag and hand it to the folks behind me for storage in the right section.  There were all sorts of people doing the climb, including several families with kids.  The funny thing was to see the kids demanding their own gear bags even though we could consolidate.  I guess this was a part of feeling grown-up - having your own bag.  I recognized a lady whom I had seen at last October’s ‘Making Strides’ walk, and I did so because of her Croatian Soccer jersey.  I mentioned that to her and she said, “Yes, you know your soccer.”  Back when she had come to the photo booth that I was operating, she had spent a lot of time trying to get a perfect picture.  It was the same thing today as she fussed over her gear and took a lot of time over that.  While most people used the gear bags for their winter coats, one guy just put his credit card and phone in the bag.  Many required two bags, which then had to be tied together.  One guy was trying to stuff a small suitcase inside, saying that he had come for the weekend and was now leaving after the climb.  Wow, talk about adding this to the list of things one does in Chicago.  Well, it was the winter after all.

Everyone was working well as a team

One common theme was people coming back because they had forgotten to put something inside or wanted to remove something from their bag.  In some instances the bag had been tied so securely that I had to rip it open and then make a new one for them.  One guy came 3 times and I finally had to ask him if he was absolutely sure that we could seal it!  Two ladies came and said that they would consolidate into one bag.  They debated whose bib number to use and they went with one who had an odd number.  As a joke I said that “Sorry, we are not doing odd”, and they thought I was being serious as they hastily changed to the others.  Come on people, you are going to need your humor around 42^nd floor or so.  I would often look at a number and then as an encouragement say that it was a lucky one.  More frequently than not the response was that they would require all the luck they could get and no kidding.  I for one couldn't imagine doing a climb of 20 floors, let alone 80.  But people were coming out in droves and I was working non-stop.  A gentleman behind me was replenishing the bags as I ran out and taking my gear for storing in the right group.  I was thankful for his help and we worked very well as a team. 

I would often wish people as they departed or even thank them for supporting the hospital.  In some cases I recognized the people upon their return and would ask if they had a good walk.  It did seem that people had enjoyed themselves and I saw a lot of smiling faces.  There were however a few in a bad mood, as a lady who picked up her gear and then started removing things right in front of me, thus causing a bottleneck in the line.  I requested that she take her stuff and unpack elsewhere, but I suspected that she wanted to leave her garbage behind and as predicted, she left a mess on the table.  One gentleman had come with his son and in order to show off, dunked his banana peel in a supplies box behind me.  I told him that while the throw had been good, unfortunately that box was not for garbage and I handed him the banana peel as he grinned sheepishly. 

Despite the huge numbers, we had been efficient and most of the credit went to the folks in the back who had done a tremendous job in organizing the gear bags.  Our bag numbers started dwindling and some of the volunteers were now being relieved.  With a few bags remaining, it was just one girl volunteer, a Lurie staff member and myself that were left standing.  He thanked us both for staying as did one late comer who saw that he was one of the last ones.  I helped move the bags to the front and then with just 6 bags remaining, left.  While I had not climbed 80 floors, I felt like I had.  But it had been all good, seeing the competitors and their enthusiasm.  Sign me up anytime for something like this.