Lollipop, Lollipop, Radio Lollipop...

Wow,

Alot has happened since my last post.

Hmm, a few birthdays, another annaversary, we went to Pismo & had DED.

I have made some new friends & offended some more people. Why do people hate it when you call them on their actions & words???

But on a good note. The program I have been volunteering for has finally had it's big kick-off. This is from the LA Times on Saturday page 3.

Radio Lollipop Rejects the Silent Treatment

Station's programming provides music and games for its listeners: seriously ill and often bored CHOC patients.

By Dave McKibben, Times Staff WriterSeptember 23, 2006

A new Orange County radio station that hit the airwaves Friday will not be driven by ratings, but by how many smiles it brings to the faces of its most important demographic — children with serious illnesses listening from their hospital beds.

Broadcasting from the lobby of Children's Hospital of Orange County, Radio Lollipop was an instant hit Friday morning with its live studio audience.

As television and radio personality Ryan Seacrest spun the first tune — the Black Eyed Peas' "Let's Get It Started" — wheelchair-bound kids hooked up to oxygen tanks and IV tubes tapped their feet and bobbed their heads to the beat. ( I was there!!!)

The hospital-based station will air programming two nights a week from 6:30 to 8:30 p.m., (My 1st show is THIS Tuesday) providing interactive trivia games and music for patients in need of a spiritual and emotional boost.
The music, a blend of children's favorites and Top 40 hits, is piped into rooms throughout the hospital.

Volunteer deejays will take call-in requests from patients, and hospital volunteers will involve children in recreational activities linked to that day's programming theme. Sometimes, patients or celebrities will fill in as guest deejays.

Dallas Day of Laguna Beach said her 10-year-old son, Cody, had been looking forward to Radio Lollipop's debut for three months.

"There's so much down time, and he can get so bored just lying in bed," said Day, whose son is being treated for a brain tumor. "This gives him something to look forward to and something to engage in. It also gives the kids a creative avenue. You just don't want them to go stagnant mentally."

The CHOC facility in Orange is the 24th Radio Lollipop in the world and the first on the West Coast. The start-up costs, totaling about $700,000, were paid by donations. Radio Lollipop began in London in 1979 and has spread to hospitals in the United Kingdom, Australia, New Zealand and Miami and Houston in the United States.

Hedley Finn, Radio Lollipop's president, said he thinks radio is the best medium to connect "one to one" with ill children.

"It's a tough situation for everybody," said Finn, who founded the nonprofit program. "The kids feel guilty, the siblings get jealous of all the attention the patient is getting, and the parents are bored and under stress. Interactive radio is a great way to break that cycle.

"Elana Ten Huisen, the CHOC administrator who will oversee the station, said anecdotal evidence has shown Radio Lollipop to be effective in helping patients deal with their illnesses.

"We've seen Radio Lollipop decreases the amount of pain medication needed during broadcasts," she said.

"A lot of times, the patient hasn't had a great day. They've been through a full day of grueling treatment, or maybe they've had a relapse. Hearing their favorite song or talking with other kids on the radio allows the patient to have a win at the end of the day."

Hospital officials say that if the program continues to receive donations, they plan to expand the station's programming to seven nights a week.

"Stick to your guns if you believe in somethin no matter why cause it's better to be hated for who you are then be loved for who your not"
- Van Zandt