The Easter season offers us an opportunity to reflect and make some changes in our lives. This is done in a myriad of ways, most often seen by sacrifice measured by our giving up candy or desserts. At Trinity, there is another way of reflecting and sacrificing: giving to children who are ill. Each season of Lent, starting Ash Wednesday and ending the Monday of Holy Week, Trinity students, faculty and staff hold a toy drive. Working in conjunction with Jarrett’s Joy Cart at Kosair Children’s Hospital, the Rocks collect toys to replenish the toy cart, which is wheeled through the children’s oncology ward. The cart makes the rounds once a week to give a toy to a child who has cancer in order to divert the attention from his or her daily treatments. Jarrett, the cart’s namesake, is the nephew of former Trinity freshman football coach Mike Wagner H’09. Jarrett died of a rare cancer called Ewing’s sarcoma several years ago. By the time he was 13 years old, Jarrett had had cancer six times. Jarrett initiated the idea of the Joy Cart in order to help other children with cancer. As a patient himself, he knew that being in the hospital could be scary at times, especially for young children. Jarrett wanted to bring excitement and joy to the children at Kosair Children’s Hospital to let them know that someone was thinking about them. This year, Trinity collected approximately 300 toys with a retail value of nearly $3,000. It was a wonderful way to start the Easter season, but by no means was it the end. On April 11, it was time to make the Trinity toy delivery. James Quick, Conor Minogue and I traveled to Kosair Children’s Hospital in downtown Louisville to distribute our gifts to the kids. Being the old veteran I am, I thought I was up to the task. The young men were a bit tentative. Conor described his past experience with the Joy Cart, and the unique perspective he has now. He said, “On the way to the hospital I sort of knew what to expect as far as the condition of the kids was concerned. Having been a patient myself and having been around other patients a lot, I knew that the kids may be bald, unenergetic, and sad. But I also knew that what we were going to do that day is something that can help alleviate the pain of a stressful day and is something that can really uplift the spirits of these kids.” When we arrived at the oncology ward and met up with the Joy Cart people, we were suddenly hit with the reality of every room being full. The youngest patient was less than one year old and the oldest was 18. We made our rounds as stoically as we could. We met a young man who is a student at North Hardin County High School. He had been a patient for one month. He had the biggest smile and the most optimistic outlook an 18-year-old can have. We also met a 13-year-old girl named Tanya, who is from Louisville. She was walking down the hall with her IV and crutches and stopped by the cart. She could not believe she had the opportunity to make a selection just for her. We met her on the way out as she was going home. She would have to return the next Tuesday. Additionally, we met a nine-year-old boy named Edgar from Indiana. His school held a fundraiser to help pay part of the medical bills while he was so far away from his friends. Edgar’s mom was wearing a T-shirt proclaiming: “Team Edgar.” Edgar had a hard time finding the right toy, but he found one. There was a six-year-old boy who was so weak he could not sit up; his mother put him on her knee while he pointed to the toy he wanted. James and Conor helped him make his decision. “While giving out the toys I realized this feeling of irony because I had been a recipient of toys off of the cart,” Conor said, “and now I was helping pass out the toys all this time later. I felt like I was really helping these kids even if it was in one of the smallest ways possible. I think that Jarrett’s Joy Cart is one of the best service opportunities at Trinity, and I firmly believe that bringing in the toys and helping hand them out is something that can really help those kids.” The litany goes on and on – the parent who searched for something because her teenage daughter was going crazy with boredom, the nurses who scoured the cart for their patients who were too sick to be exposed to germs. It was a truly humbling experience to see the determination and grit these young people showed in their battles against cancer. Equally impressive were the nurses and doctors who were working with them. So many times we try to use the big and grandiose to find significance and meaning. Most of the time what we are searching for can be found in the smallest of actions. Who would have thought the simple act of buying a Match Box car, a coloring book or a Barbie doll could bring so much joy to a child who is sick? Who would have thought three people coming from afar bearing gifts to a child during the Easter season would depart receiving more than they gave? I am so thankful Trinity offers this ministry and can only hope we will be able to do it again next year.