Entertaining diversions

To distract 12-year-old hospital patient Alyssa Chamberlain from her IV needle, child life specialist Jan DeLeeuw gave her a “Where’s Waldo?” book.

As Chamberlain describes it, she needs to have a supporting bar removed from her chest that doctors put inside her two years ago when her chest started to collapse.

Chamberlin didn’t find Waldo, but she said that hunting for him in the book helped take her mind off the doctors’ poking and prodding.

The book was a gift made anonymously to the hospital from Child’s Play, a charity started by a couple of video game enthusiasts in 2003.

At the time, there were many stories in the media about violent video games and the negative effects they have on the community. To offset the bad press, the Seattle-based Web comic Penny Arcade set up the charity, which provides books, toys and games to children’s hospitals around the world.

Thirty-eight hospitals are currently receiving toys from Child’s Play, according to Kristin Lindsay, Child’s Play and events coordinator at Penny Arcade.

The hospitals create a wish list of items they would like to give to the patients, and Child’s Play has set up a link to the list at Amazon.com.

The toys are all new and are rated “E for Everyone,” 10 and under, and any DVDs that are purchased are all PG-13 and under. The hospitals have agreed to these restrictions and are supportive of them.

“We take the responsibility of providing age-appropriate content very seriously,” Lindsay said. “Oftentimes the hospital staff and concerned parents have so much on their minds that something like checking the rating on the game falls to the wayside.”

The toys must be new, because of hygiene issues, and the hospitals want them to be in working order.

The charity as a whole has raised nearly $500,000 so far this year, according to its Web site.

Sacred Heart Children’s Hospital has received 70 toys valued at $1,796 from local donors and from donors from as far as New York City.

The most popular gifts seem to be the “I Spy” and “Where’s Waldo?” books. The hospital also has received a three-story Barbie Dream House, an X-Box 360 and a couple of GameCubes.

“I really love to tell the community how thankful we are,” said Danita Petek, the hospital’s community relations representative. “It’s humbling.”

Brynn Roosa, the foundation coordinator at Sacred Heart Children’s Foundation, said that she appreciates the convenience that Child’s Play provides donors by setting up the site through Amazon.

“They see it, they buy it and it comes to us,” Roosa said. Donors don’t have to worry about copying the wish list, driving to the store, and getting the toys to the hospital. They just order the toys from home.

Roosa read about the charity online and noticed that many major children’s hospitals had signed up as well.

Many of the toys and books have gone to the hospital’s psychiatric department, and some have gone to the surgical center, where children get signed in for procedures. The kids usually take the toys with them when they go, so new toys are needed all the time.

“We don’t want anyone to go without,” Roosa said.

Child’s Play will accept donations until Feb. 1. It also accepts cash, which the hospital will receive after the program ends.

“We will forever do this,” Roosa said.