Santa’s elves have taken over Johns Hopkins Hospital, and they are helping the children get into the holiday spirit.
Each year just after Thanksgiving a number of elves show up to Johns Hopkins Children’s Center.
“The kids love it, the families love it, it puts a smile on the everybody’s face," says Allie Martz.
Each elf has the responsibility of watching over the children and reporting their behavior back to Santa.
“The day of his arrival we had a letter for the kids to read, and it's mostly just introducing good behavior in the clinic and you know, following through with your medical care and treating everyone with respect," says Martz.
But the elves sometimes have a hard time behaving themselves.
“Every night he runs away and hides into a different spot, so when I get here in the mornings, I always try to find where he is and make sure that I can show my patients where he is. Every morning it's become quite a fun game, and he is a pretty crazy guy," says Meghan Levis.
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Meghan Levis says this has brought joy to her patients, especially the ones who are in the hospital for long-term treatment, like five-year-old Avis. His mother, Angela Parrotta, says they have been in the hospital for weeks.
“It gave a good reason to get up and about and moving and something to look forward to because when you’re here for a while like we have been, it's the same scene over and over again," says Angela Parrotta.
She says seeing her son get excited to look for the elves makes everyone's day better.
“The first day we saw him, he was stuck in the sink that froze over like an ice skating rink, and that was pretty fun, right? We were on our way for some testing, and we passed by, and it put a smile on his face because he was having a rough day," says Parrotta.
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Megan Levis says having the elves in the hospital is something she looks forward to each year, especially seeing the mayhem they cause throughout the halls.
“We set up our Christmas tree, so today, Tacro has taken it among himself to play a little t-ball, so he is playing t-ball with a few of our Christmas ornaments, and his helper, the Grinch, over there is playing catcher, so hopefully Tacro maybe will be trying out for the Baltimore Orioles this year," she says.
All of the elves will be in the hospital until Christmas Eve.
This story was originally published by Ja Nai Wright at Scripps News Baltimore.
