The sound of a helicopter flying low breaks through. Sharon Bale pauses and looks up to watch Angel One fly over a small garden at Arkansas Children's Hospital, headed for the landing pad.
"We make five runs a day to bring babies here," Bale says. "When you hear it, you just say your little prayer. 'Thy will be done.'"
Bale is one of hospital's biggest cheerleaders and a longtime member of the hospital's auxiliary. The Arkansas Children's Hospital Auxiliary exists to raise money for and awareness of the hospital. The evidence of its commitment and contributions is visible everywhere.
It's in the hospital's new south wing, to which the auxiliary gave $3 million. And in the new David M. Clark Center for Safe and Healthy Children, a new space for abused and neglected children, helped along by the auxiliary's $1.5 million contribution. There have also been endowed pediatric chairs, programs such as music therapy, the Playaway Gift Shop and a great deal of life-saving equipment.
The auxiliary was founded March 7, 1967. Fifty years to the day later, the auxiliary will celebrate its legacy with special guest Mark Shriver, president of the Save the Children Action Network. He'll speak at a luncheon at 11:30 a.m. that day.
Money raised will help the auxiliary pay for even more programs and projects. With the hospital's south wing and the Clark Center now finished, the group is turning its attention to something else the hospital needs: more green space. Over the next few years, the auxiliary plans to fund the building of areas where parents can take their children to play and where they can go for quiet reflection.
There are now 500 women in the auxiliary and, Bale says, "Their main passion, concern and care is the health of the children in the state of Arkansas -- of any child who comes here."
Bale's connection to the hospital started with, and was reinforced by, family.
"There has been a Bale male on the board at ACH since the late 1920s," she says. Her husband's grandfather was on the board when the decision was made to turn the Arkansas Children's Home Society into a hospital. Nearly a decade ago, that decision had a major impact on another Bale family member, when John Hardin Bale, Bale's grandson, was born with multiple problems and spent his first 67 days as a patient.
Sharon's husband, Johnny Bale, joined the board in the 1970s, and the couple attended the annual garden parties the auxiliary held as fundraisers. There, Sharon Bale began to meet auxiliary members and learn more about their work and passion.
"I liked the women," she says. "These women that I witnessed for two or three years before I joined were spending their time on a cause greater than themselves. I wanted to be a part of that."
It's an attitude that reminded her of her mother and the women she grew up around -- women from a poor neighborhood who banded together to buy fabric and sew for weeks so all the neighborhood children could have new clothes for school.
"The most precious thing anyone can donate is their time. Because you can't make any more of it up. You can make more money. You can go out there and have more money, but time, you're given 24 hours a day and you choose how you're going to spend it."
Since joining the auxiliary, Bale has served as president, been co-chairman of the Miracle Ball and, other years, helped clean up afterward.
"If you're in the auxiliary you get to do it all," she says.
Her current role as insight chairman is, she says, her favorite so far. It's her job to identify and recognize people who go above and beyond for the children. The only stipulation is that the honoree can't be an auxiliary officer.
"It's not about doing the glory thing. It's about doing the grunge work, what it takes to really make it happen," she says.
The volunteer program and the auxiliary are separate entities, but Bale says many of the members volunteer, whether helping out in the Playaway Gift Shop or taking photos of children whose parents have to leave them at the hospital to go back to work.
It's not a particularly easy task, though. Seeing children and parents struggling is difficult.
"I think the challenging thing is to see situations you cannot make better, as far as the outcome. But you can make the journey easier," she says.
When her grandson spent time at Arkansas Children's Hospital, Bale got to see the work and care of the staff and doctors for herself. Staff includes security guards, who will rush to help parents trying to juggle multiple children and bags, to the housekeepers, who work hard to keep rooms clean and free of infection.
"They are so compassionate," she says. "When we were here with John Hardin, John Hardin became their baby. 'How's my baby today?' I think everyone who works in this hospital takes ownership of every patient."
Also, Bale says, the hospital staff doesn't just treat the sick children, they treat the family as a whole. "It's not about a patient. It's about the unit," she says.
While the auxiliary year is winding down for the season (the annual check will be written at the May meeting and the fundraising year gears up again in late summer), there are still activities going on, and people are welcome to join. Meetings are held once a month at lunchtime, and they make a genuine effort to keep the meetings short and concise, she adds.
"We want it to be meaningful," Bale says. "We want you to feel like you haven't wasted your time."
Bale has visited other children's hospitals and has spoken with other hospitals' representatives who've visited Arkansas Children's Hospital. They all, she says, comment about the special feeling at Children's.
"When they come here and visit, they say, 'What is it about your hospital? There's something different.' I think it's the people of Arkansas. Arkansas is unique. We don't have a lot we brag about, but we sure do work hard for the things we believe in."
Tickets and information about the 50th anniversary luncheon are available by calling (501) 364-2092.
High Profile on 02/26/2017