Truckloads of toys, games, school supplies and snacks made Tuesday an exciting day at the local Boys & Girls Club. Cartersville Medical Center Employee Advisory Group representatives presented several loads of donated sports equipment and other goods to the club.

Hospital officials say the donation began with one employee who noticed specific needs during a visit to the club, which is a home away from home for many children, some of whom stay there until 8 each evening. 

"The club provides a safe environment conducive to physical activity as well as completion of homework assignments, crafts and relaxation," according to the press release. "At certain times of the day there are as many as 80 children at the club."

When they announced the donations, Cartersville Medical Center reps were met with anxious children who flooded the packed vehicles and single-handedly unloaded the gifts.  

"It was a joyful frenzy," said Matt Wood, Pharmacy operations manager and EAG chair at Cartersville Medical Center. "In the end, it was we (CMC employees) who received the best gift: seeing incredible smiles on the faces of children." 

In addition to the employee-donated items, the medical center purchased a new ping pong table for the Boys & Girls Club of Bartow County in Cartersville.

And they're just getting started. Plans to sponsor Halloween and Christmas parties are in the works.  

"For now, the reason is simple...adults reaching out and giving back to children," the press release stated. "But who knows?  The children at the Boys & Girls Club today could be our future health care professionals."

This article is part of Dispatches: The Changing American Dream, our ongoing series about how people in Cartersville are adapting to the challenges of life in the 21st century.