Team Pajamas: Teens making an impact!
At the age of 14, Melissa Basgall embarked on a path that profoundly shaped her perspective on life and service. Inspired by her mother, a dedicated hospice social worker, she began volunteering at Kansas City Hospice & Palliative Care (KCH). Call it karma, call it a natural turn of events, as an adult she came to lead the KCH volunteer department as our Director of Volunteer Services.
Little did young Melissa know that - a few years down the road - her experience as a teen volunteer at KCH would inspire a whole leading-edge program for young people just like her, hoping to do some good in the world.
In the spring of 2024, Kansas City Hospice unveiled a new volunteer program tailored for teens and young adults: Team Pajamas! Spearheaded by Emmy Kenzer, a University of Kansas practicum student, and in collaboration with our exceptional team members, Team Pajamas offers a unique opportunity for people ages 16 and older to volunteer in our hospice house care setting during the evenings. It’s a tuck-in program between the evening meal and bedtime to offer families comfort items such as a snack, book, music, blanket, and so much more.
Wouldn’t young Melissa Basgall be proud?
University of Kansas Partners with Kansas City Hospice & Palliative Care
Dr. Jomella Watson-Thompson, Professor of Applied Behavior Science and Associate Vice Provost of Community Impact at the University of Kansas, provided her perspective on how ensuring higher education and career training promotes service learning experiences. “Community Health and Development Practicum students and students from the Community Leadership course plug into the community organization to increase their knowledge about collaborative leadership and problem solving. Student engagement with a community partner is critical to their professional development. Projects such as Team Pajamas offer a lens of intergenerational programming that allows students to experience careers pathways.”
As so many terrific ideas do, Team Pajamas began as a concept. One KCH practicum student, Emmy, was inspired by an idea and had the opportunity to evolve her idea into a project. During two semesters she refined and further developed the project, and lent perspective through pilot implementation. Dr. Watson-Thompson reflected, “Our partnership with you and Kansas City Hospice & Palliative Care is one we hope to maintain and sustain through engagement with students, courses, research faculty and I look forward to future collaborations.”
Get Involved
Have a teen or know a young person who’d be perfect for Team Pajamas? We’re thrilled! Click
to learn more in this informational flyer or get started on your application today.
Would your company like to get involved? Host a drive for Team Pajamas items to be used
during the tuck-in program. We’re looking for items such as:
• Packaged snacks
• Puzzle books for adults or kids
• Adult coloring books
• Pens/markers
• Herbal tea bags
• Chocolates
• Earplugs
• Eye masks