“I was 14 years old when I started volunteering at Arkansas Children’s Hospital,” Terri Erwin recalls, seated on a velvet, navy blue sofa in the elegant living room of her Little Rock home, one she has graciously opened to guests for fundraising parties throughout the years. The walls are adorned with beautiful art in gilded frames, and the furnishings are elegant yet welcoming, exactly something you would expect from someone like Erwin, whose reputation for philanthropy and volunteerism precede her in all she does.
But for the Little Rock native, helping others wasn’t always about chairing galas or attending black-tie events. “I volunteered as a candy striper in the girls and boys wards, and we wore those little pink and white pinafore uniforms,” she laughs. “But I am so thankful for that early introduction to volunteering. It’s something I’ve wanted to do ever since.”
A few years later, Erwin was invited by a friend to volunteer at ACH’s Playaway Gift Shop. “I spent a lot of hours working in the gift shop,” she says. “I went to market for the shop, and I would take the book cart up to the patients’ rooms.” The portable library, an ACH Auxiliary project in which Auxiliary members donated books for the children to read, gave Erwin an opportunity to interact with patients and their families one-on-one. “A lot of times, those families had an emergency and just had to grab what they could and leave. They would come to the hospital with absolutely nothing,” she says. “The patients were always so grateful for those books, which seems like such a simple thing now, but to them, in that moment, a book was a luxury.”
Moved by what she’d experienced, Erwin joined the ACH Auxiliary in 1985, and she’s been volunteering for the hospital in some capacity ever since. But the most important and life-changing role she would play at ACH came in 1990, when she became the parent of an ACH patient.
Just two weeks after Erwin gave birth to her son, Clayton, he was diagnosed with a condition called pyloric stenosis, a narrowing of the lower part of the stomach that prevents the infant from keeping formula down and digesting food. Clayton would need surgery on a muscle in his stomach, and though Erwin says it was a fairly simple procedure, she was like any parent with a brand new baby and a 2-year-old daughter at home — scared and anxious. “The care and attention we received from the hospital was amazing,” Erwin recalls. They took care of us, and when all was said and done, Clayton was fine. But it gave us such a great appreciation for how important this hospital is for our community and the state, to be able to provide the best healthcare for all the children in Arkansas.”
There’s been no question that both Erwin and her husband Chuck have been invaluable to ACH throughout the last 25 years. Erwin has served as president of the Auxiliary, chaired the annual Christmas card project, co-chaired the annual garden party, and she served on the founding committee of the Star Achiever program. Chuck joined the board of directors right around the time Clayton had surgery in 1990 and served as president from 2004 to 2006. He’s also chaired almost every committee on the board, including the search committee for ACH’s last two CEOs.
But the Erwin family involvement doesn’t stop there. Erwin’s daughter, Marisa Ann, was a member of the Star Achievers, ACH’s volunteerism and philanthropy program for ninth-grade girls. And when Clayton was in middle school, he asked his parents if he could also lend a hand at ACH, volunteering at the fitness center. “It was just something he wanted to do,” Erwin says proudly. “I like to think that seeing us be involved has instilled a sense of volunteerism in our children, and what more could a parent want?”
“Terri is an absolute gem,” says Fred Scarborough, president of the ACH Foundation. “In everything she does, you can be sure that doing what’s best for children is a top priority. It’s always been clear to us that working with ACH is truly a passion for her.”
Though Erwin has volunteered in nearly every capacity at ACH over the last 30 years, this year marks her first experience chairing Miracle Ball. “The Miracle Ball is a joint effort by the ACH Foundation and the Auxiliary,” she says, “so after being so involved in the Auxiliary all these years, it was a natural fit for me to chair it. The passion that you see when you talk to the physicians and staff members makes it such a special place. And Chuck and I had seen firsthand what they did for our son, so we were delighted to take on the challenge.”
For the (already sold-out) event, Children’s Hall on the ACH campus will be transformed into a classical French setting, inspired by the opulent Palace of Versailles. Chris Norwood and Howard Hurst of Tipton Hurst will design elegant arrangements that Mike Nichols of the Arkansas Repertory Theatre will use in creating a magical backdrop of florals, statuary and lavish gold décor. “As you can imagine, I’m very excited about the theme,” Erwin laughs, holding out her hands to indicate the Louis XIV-style details of her beautiful living room: ornate gold furniture, cherubs sculptures and coffee table books filled with photos of French architecture and design.
The ACH Foundation and Auxiliary hope to earn more than $500,000 at Miracle Ball this month, to support ongoing projects such as Palliative Care, the ACH Research Institute, the Comfort Foods program, Injury Prevention Center and the Infant-Toddler Unit. But Children’s House — a 23,000-square-foot building with a groundbreaking planned for early 2015 — is a new endeavor that is close to Erwin’s heart. The center will provide comprehensive care for children and families affected by abuse and neglect. “It’s been very rewarding to watch the hospital grow and evolve over the years, and develop these wonderful programs,” Erwin says.
This year’s “Miracle Match” drive, which takes place each year at Miracle Ball, will focus on Children’s House, in an attempt to raise the much-needed funds to get this project off the ground. “It’s because of things like this that I continue to volunteer for ACH,” Erwin says. “There’s always a new program or service or commitment to help these children. Everyone has been touched by ACH in one way or another, whether it’s your child or a relative, or the child of someone you know. The work is never finished.”
9th Annual Miracle Ball
When: 6 p.m., Saturday, Dec. 13
Where: Children’s Hall, Arkansas Children’s Hospital
Tickets + info: giving.archildrens.org/auxiliary