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Carting happiness to MUSC's young patients by Cindy Abole Public Relations Stem cell transplant recipient Taylor Wilson and her mother Tammy select a game from the Happy Wheels cart while project coordinator Larissa Allison looks on.  Larissa Allison has a special place in her heart for children. Although she has none of her own, Allison feels a motherly connection with children who struggle or are suffering from cancer, leukemia or other life-threatening diseases. Allison and her husband, Jim, were coping with their own struggles when he was diagnosed with testicular cancer in 1997. Its results found them shuttling in and out of hospitals across the country. Allison learned to empathize with the strength, courage and determination of cancer patients and other terminally-ill individuals. She was particularly inspired by the good-will story offered by a young leukemia survivor named Jarrett who had appeared on syndicated TV’s Rosie O’Donnell Show. Jarrett recognized the positive and therapeutic roles of play for recovering pediatric cancer patients. In June, Allison met with MUSC Child Life manager Sandra Oberman and Children’s Hospital Fund director Barbara Rivers in Charleston. Their meetings resulted in the creation of a regular Thursday good-will program called Happy Wheels. The program allows volunteers and a child-life specialist to circulate a stocked cart of new toys and books,  purchased with monetary donations, for hospital patients to select from. The program allows a child to choose an item from a cart—divided into four shelves: up to 3 years old; 4 to 6 years old; 7 to 11 years old; 12 years old and above. “It was a simple idea, resulting in a huge impact,” said Allison. “Seeing Jarrett’s story helped me to realize the wonderful effect play has on children. It distracts the mind in a helpful, healing way. I think it's important that hospitals and caregivers recognize this need as part of a young patient’s therapy to recovery.” Allison has collaborated with Grand Strand and Lowcountry area churches to serve as volunteers. “I think if volunteers came once, they’d love it enough to come back again and again,” Allison said.  Among the list of participating groups is Belin Methodist Church, Murrell’s Inlet; Myrtle Beach First Presbyterian Church, First United Methodist Church of Myrtle Beach, Pawley’s Island Baptist Church, Christ Community Church; Lowcountry Community Church, East Cooper Baptist Church and St. Mary’s Catholic Church, Charleston. Other groups undergoing negotiation include East Cooper Baptist Church, St. Phillips Episcopal Church and Crowfield Baptist Church and the Cathedral of Praise. “We’re always on the look-out for groups that can help provide volunteer support to a project on a steady, consistent basis,” Oberman said. “We recognize that it takes more than medicine for a patient to get well.” Using her marketing expertise and contacts with her company, Strategic Marketing, Allison has managed to coordinate numerous donations on behalf of the Happy Wheels program through the U.S. Marine Corps Reserve Toys for Tots Program and various Myrtle Beach businesses including a graphic and design company, printing company and an East Cooper storage facility to store toy and book donations locally for the program. Happy Wheels has been organized as an extension of Child Life Department, a program that provides professional support and skills to enhance developmental progress and emotional well-being for pediatric patients. The staff also works with other successful Lowcountry groups like the Charleston Symphony Orchestra and the Charleston Charitable Society, which support special activities at the Children’s Hospital.  Jarrett’s story of a depressed little girl, a cart-full of new toys and the value of playtime for a recovering pediatric cancer patient inspired Allison to react within her own community. Jarrett recognized the positive effects that a toy can bring to a recovering patient. Today, Jarrett’s program enlists a number of volunteers who collect donated toys and circulate a “joy” cart twice a month to pediatric cancer patients at a Lexington, Ky.  hospital. “I knew that if there was something that could be done for a program like this, Allison would be the one person to do it,” Oberman said. “She just had that spark in her eyes.”