Chapter 06: On the Children’s Christmas Card Project, Volunteers, and Faith
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Description
Mrs. Harrison tells of a holiday card that was sent into outer space and talks about the generosity of volunteers that kept the Children’s Christmas Card Project moving forward. She then clarifies the progressive expansion of her role as she worked with the Card Project. Mrs. Harrison next talks about Page Lawson, who was known nationally as an expert in volunteer affairs and sought after as a speaker. Mrs. Harrison shows a picture of Ms. Lawson and goes on to describe her character. She recalls support that Ms. Lawson gave cancer patients. Mrs. Harrison recalls some volunteers she worked with and talks about her plans to continue volunteering with the institution. She talks about qualities that a person needs to volunteer.
Mrs. Harrison says that many people shudder when she mentions volunteering at MD Anderson, but explains that she always leaves feeling better than she did when she arrived because she has helped people.
Mrs. Harrison talks about the importance of her faith in her work as a volunteer: “God gave me the job.”
Identifier
HarrisonK_01_20130528_C06
Publication Date
5-28-2012
City
Houston, Texas
Interview Session
Topics Covered
The Interview Subject's Story - The Volunteer; The Philanthropist/Volunteer; Patients; Contributions; Activities Outside Institution; Offering Care, Compassion, Help; Institutional Mission and Values; Portraits; Professional Practice; The Professional at Work; The Philanthropist/Volunteer; Dedication to MD Anderson, to Patients, to Faculty/Staff; This is MD Anderson; Faith, Values, Beliefs
Transcript
Tacey Ann Rosolowski, PhD:
Are there some children that were involved with the art project when you were manager or afterwards that you really recall some of the artists?
Karen Harrison:
Yes, I can’t give you by name, but we sent one of our cards into outer space.
Tacey Ann Rosolowski, PhD:
How did that happen?
Karen Harrison:
Well, we invited one of the events people from NASA, and it ultimately led to a card going into space. That was a thrill for the children and for me.
Tacey Ann Rosolowski, PhD:
Was it on a shuttle, or was it on a space shot?
Karen Harrison:
I couldn’t tell you now, but it did go. I'm sure I can—I don’t know. I probably can find—
Tacey Ann Rosolowski, PhD:
Was it a design that had an outer space theme to it?
Karen Harrison:
It was looking down on the world. You saw the world, and it was looking down on the world. It was Santa or somebody looking down on— I have quite a few pieces of clothing not ready to present to show you, but I've got it if you want me to bring some of that out.
Tacey Ann Rosolowski, PhD:
That’s neat. Yeah, we could maybe talk about that afterwards. Were there any other thoughts that you've got about the Children’s Art Project and what it took to get it off the ground and moving?
Karen Harrison:
Well, people’s generosity.
Tacey Ann Rosolowski, PhD:
You mean people purchasing cards?
Karen Harrison:
And volunteering. It took caring people, and that was the magic of it.
Tacey Ann Rosolowski, PhD:
Now, the entire project is run exclusively by volunteers with the exception of—I mean, in your case, you were an actual employee or a manager. But otherwise all the other activities were—or were you also a volunteer when you were a manager?
Karen Harrison:
I used to say I work here X number of hours a week or a month or whatever, and that was earlier in it, but I say I'm being paid for twenty hours. That was what they hired me for, and I say I work about fifty-six. But that was in the first couple of years. After about maybe the first year, Page said, “We can’t get along on a part-time employee anymore. You’ve got to become full-time if you want to be with us.”
Tacey Ann Rosolowski, PhD:
And you were able to do that, obviously. It sounds like a huge job. I was reading somewhere—I don’t remember what year this was for, but I was reading where they were estimating how many hours were required in a specific year to run the Children’s Art Project. They were talking, and it was a total of 189,000 hours for a year, and they broke it down. They said a staff of ninety people working forty hours a week for one year. That’s pretty amazing, and all of that time was volunteer time that was put in.
Karen Harrison:
I don’t know.
Tacey Ann Rosolowski, PhD:
It was staggering. It was in an article on the Children’s Art Project. It is a lot of hours, all the details that are being taken care of.
Karen Harrison:
Well, as I said, Rock Rabinowitz, it’s three years. A full day three times a week gets to adding up.
Tacey Ann Rosolowski, PhD:
Absolutely, absolutely. I wanted to ask you a little bit more about Page Lawson. You said she was really, really innovative. What were some changes that she brought to Volunteer Services that were really—?
Karen Harrison:
Well, she actually was outstanding nationwide as a director of volunteers and was sought after as a speaker and such things as that. Her enthusiasm and her long reach of imagination were invaluable.
Tacey Ann Rosolowski, PhD:
When you say imagination, what kind of things was she able to do? Was it working with people? Was it figuring out jobs?
Karen Harrison:
I think working with the people.
Tacey Ann Rosolowski, PhD:
Can you give me some examples? I'm trying to get a sense of who she was as a person and what she was able to do.
Karen Harrison:
Let’s see. I think I have a picture. I can’t tell. I can’t see. Oh, the pink is Page.
Tacey Ann Rosolowski, PhD:
She’s got a great smile, doesn’t she?
Karen Harrison:
Yes.
Tacey Ann Rosolowski, PhD:
Kind of a 100-watt smile. Now, what kinds of things did she do or institute to support volunteers when she took over the department? [redacted]
Tacey Ann Rosolowski, PhD:
Now, with Page, were there ways in which she reorganized Volunteer Services or provided training? What was the special mark that she put on Volunteer Services?
Karen Harrison:
I think I've pretty well described what—I told you about our doing tai chi. That was her innovation, that it would be relaxing for us, and so she was concerned about the employees. She was concerned about the patients. She was innovative herself, and she was generous enough probably—like I said, a volunteer brought this picture down and said it’s good enough to be a Christmas card.
Tacey Ann Rosolowski, PhD:
Now, I've always been curious. How are the different roles for volunteers within an organization like MD Anderson established? How do people come up with the idea that, “Oh, here’s a new job for a volunteer?” How does that happen?
Karen Harrison:
It’s just like living. It needs to be done. That’s it. Then you look for a way to do it. I told you about Geri Davis’s husband put us on—the way I can describe it is put us online, but I don’t know that that was what he did. But he got us so that we could work with computers.
Tacey Ann Rosolowski, PhD:
Right, and this was a volunteer who came in and decided—
Karen Harrison:
Right, it was her husband.
Tacey Ann Rosolowski, PhD:
That’s neat.
Karen Harrison:
As far as I know—I haven’t seen her in the last couple of years, but as far as I know, she still volunteers.
Tacey Ann Rosolowski, PhD:
Do you still do some volunteering aside from your annex?
Karen Harrison:
Well, I plan to do some. I want to get that 10,000 hours. I can’t let my husband beat me. But right now it’s more I go with the patient, like I did last week. We spent the day at Anderson, and so I am encouraging him and that sort of thing. That’s what I do mostly now when I'm at Anderson is visiting and that sort of thing. But I plan to probably again. Not work in the art project but work as a hostess or something like that, depending on what my vision will allow me to do. But I have a friend whose last child is going off to college, and I told her I'm going to take her to Anderson and teach her the ropes and get her volunteering.
Tacey Ann Rosolowski, PhD:
What do you think makes a good volunteer? What kind of personal qualities?
Karen Harrison:
Well, dedication and the time to do it or choosing the use of your time in that way. It’s just pleasing. I had lots of people say to me, “Oh, MD Anderson, I wouldn’t want to go there.” And I can truthfully say that I've said over time—or it is said to me—I said, “I have never been in MD Anderson that I didn’t leave there feeling better for having been there than before I went,” because you feel like you did help the people. You feel like they were pleased to see you and have you. I think that it’s a very valuable way to spend your time.
Tacey Ann Rosolowski, PhD:
And you mentioned earlier that your faith is very important to you. How is that connected up with your volunteer commitment?
Karen Harrison:
I say that God gave me the job. I was glad that he put that in Page’s mind that I might be hired. My whole life is seeking his will and the walk with him. As I say, we have—because of the political situation and so forth—don’t stress the Christmas card projects and all that sort of thing anymore. But it was God’s gift to me is all I can tell you.
Tacey Ann Rosolowski, PhD:
Is there anything else that you'd like to add about the Christmas card project or the art project or your volunteering at MD Anderson?
Karen Harrison:
No. I'll be back. That’s all. I am coming back.
Tacey Ann Rosolowski, PhD:
That’s nice. Well, thank you for taking the time with me today. We appreciate it.
Karen Harrison:
I hope I've said what you needed to have.
Tacey Ann Rosolowski, PhD:
I've got a good overview of the project, yeah. Thank you very much.
Karen Harrison:
Do you want me to get out these things?
Tacey Ann Rosolowski, PhD:
Let me just turn off the recorder, and then we can chat about next steps. I just want to say for the record, I'm shutting off the recorder at nineteen minutes after 2:00. (End of Audio 2 Session 1)
Recommended Citation
Harrison, Karen K. and Rosolowski, Tacey A. PhD, "Chapter 06: On the Children’s Christmas Card Project, Volunteers, and Faith" (2012). Interview Chapters. 877.
https://openworks.mdanderson.org/mchv_interviewchapters/877
Conditions Governing Access
Redacted
