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Recipients shine during governor’s volunteer awards The South Carolina Association for volunteer Administration (SCAVA) and the Governor’s Office announced recipients of the 2006 Annual Governor’s Volunteer Awards that includes two from MUSC.   MUSC’s Children’s Hospital Happy Wheels volunteers and MUSC Gives Back student community volunteer program director Liz Sheridan were among the 10 statewide award recipients and 40 nominees honored with these annual awards. Happy Wheels volunteers were the recipients in the Volunteer Group category. Sheridan was this year’s winner of the Robin Burns Administrator Award. She was nominated by SCAVA colleagues Joan Perry, Bon Secours St. Francis Healthcare and Mitzi Neely, Roper Saint Francis Healthcare in Charleston.   Happy Wheels is a volunteer-driven program developed in January 2000 that supports the emotional well-being of sick and injured at the MUSC Children’s Hospital. Stocked weekly with toys and books, the Happy Wheels cart is wheeled through the Children’s Hospital by volunteers who stop at every room to let young patients pick out a gift. Since then, the volunteers, who come from as far away as Myrtle Beach, have distributed more than 25,000 toys and/or books and have raised more than $86,000 to keep the cart stocked.      “The group of volunteers who help make the Happy Wheels cart a reality are considered an invaluable part of our team, working diligently to help our patients cope with their illnesses and injuries in hope that they will continue the joyous rites of childhood even while staying in the hospital,” said Christine Messick, Children’s Hospital Volunteer Program coordinator. “The 25,000 children who have received a gift from the Happy Wheels cart have certainly benefited from the generosity of this wonderful program.”   MUSC Gives Back was established in 1992 in response to a medical student’s proposal to organize students in learning how to give back to the community through service work and volunteering. Now a universitywide program, the effort sponsors more than 4,300 students representing various health care disciplines who support various community service activities in the Tri-county area.      “I accept this award on behalf of all MUSC students,” said Liz Sheridan. “It is a pleasure to serve them in as much as it is an honor to be recognized as the Governor’s Volunteer Administrator of the Year.”   The awards ceremony was held April 28 in the auditorium of the South Carolina State House with Laura Saunders from the Governor’s Office and SCAVA president Tammy E. Hill, as awards presenters.   Honorees were presented with a certificate of appreciation and given an awards reception held at the Capital Center, which was sponsored by the Midlands Area affiliate of SCAVA. The awards coincided with National Volunteer Week 2006 (April 23 to April 30).   Friday, May 5, 2006 Catalyst Online is published weekly, updated as needed and improved from time to time by the MUSC Office of Public Relations for the faculty, employees and students of the Medical University of South Carolina. Catalyst Online editor, Kim Draughn, can be reached at 792-4107 or by email, catalyst@musc.edu. Editorial copy can be submitted to Catalyst Online and to The Catalyst in print by fax, 792-6723, or by email to catalyst@musc.edu. To place an ad in The Catalyst hardcopy, call Island papers at 849-1778, ext. 201.