Jan 22, 2020
What Do You Need? A simple question inspires The Turquoise Cart Program at Cook Children's Hospital in Fort Worth, Texas.
In this episode of The Turquoise Table, host Kristin Schell speaks with Kim Muench, a volunteer program coordinator at Cook Children’s Hospital in Fort Worth, Texas. Kim began her Turquoise Table journey by placing her own Turquoise Table in her front yard. Unfortunately, this was met with resistance by her Homeowners Association, and, despite Kim’s efforts to convince them otherwise, they would not allow her to keep her table in the front yard. Still determined to create community in her neighborhood, Kim began a tradition of bringing her Turquoise Table from the back yard to the front yard one Friday night per month. Each month, between three and seven families join hers to play games on the street and socialize. Kim hopes that even more families will join them, and that her community will continue to grow.
However, bringing out her Turquoise Table once a month wasn’t enough for Kim. She brought the idea of placing a table at Cook Children’s Hospital to her boss, who told her it wasn’t feasible. However, Kim and her boss came up with the idea of turquoise carts: rolling hospitality carts that go from room to room serving parents. When children are in the hospital, parents often forget to take care of themselves. The children receive constant attention, but parents often lose themselves in the care of their children. Kim wanted to start The turquoise Cart Project to serve and uplift these parents. To jumpstart the project, Kim asked all the parents who had children in the hospital: “what do you need?” This simple but powerful question rendered all the information she needed to pursue her idea of the turquoise carts.
Kim is grateful for the impact the project has already made, and encourages listeners to create their own Turquoise Table missions wherever they are. The Turquoise Table calling is not limited to a front yard picnic table. As Kim has proven, it can be manifested anywhere that there are people to be served and community to be created.
For full show notes, discussion guide, Suppers for Sharing recipe, and Conversation Starter, visit www.theturquoisetable.com/podcast, or join us in our FREE online community, The Turquoise Table Community.
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