Brenna Dillon has left her mark on Nexus’ HealthBridge Children’s Hospital in Orange, California. As a Bronze Award and Silver Award recipient, Brenna set her sights on achieving the Girl Scouts’ highest honor: the Gold Award. Equivalent to the Boy Scout Eagle Scout Award, only about 5.4% of eligible scouts earn the award ꟷ and Brenna has successfully done so while impacting the lives of patients.
As an aspiring nurse, Brenna wanted to do something special for HealthBridge Children’s Hospital. After touring the facility, she identified an outdoor area that could be improved.
“The outside is one place where kids can go and I thought we could make it into something great,” explained Brenna.
With that idea, she started planning, and in total, spent 85 hours on the project since August 2018. The result: the Rocks of Courageous Kids (R.O.C.K.) Garden. Dedicated to patients who have recently discharged, the garden is a place for children to leave decorated rocks as a way of commemorating their courageous journey at the hospital.
“The new R.O.C.K. Garden is a special place for patients,” said Megan Motis, Activities Lead at HealthBridge Children’s Hospital. “Before a patient is discharged, they have the opportunity to decorate a rock and to leave it in our garden. That way, they will always have a piece of themselves at the facility. We are hoping it gives patients something to look forward to before they go home.”
To earn the Gold Award, Brenna had to make a lasting change, and that she did. A Girl Scout of 13 years, Brenna hopes other hospitals become inspired to create their own R.O.C.K. Garden after reading about the project. Her next plan is to bring the tradition to Nexus’ other children’s hospital in Houston, Texas.