Westmont student's board game drive benefits area hospital

WESTMONT – When it comes to helping out, Ruth Vrtis of Westmont is always game.

The Westmont High School senior helped organize a board game drive earlier this year to benefit families of patients — and the patients themselves — at Adventist Hinsdale Hospital.

The cause was one close to Vrtis and her family, who have spent a lot of time in hospital waiting rooms while her sister, Lisa Rapp, 28, was receiving chemotherapy and other cancer treatments while battling leukemia.

Vrtis explained that passing the time is often tough to do while waiting for a loved one at the hospital. Playing board games helped do just that.
One day, the Vrtis family decided to leave some of their games behind to share with other families.

"After spending so much time there with my family, I thought that donating some more games was a way I could help out, and it was something that the hopsital really needed," Vrtis said.

To help with the project, Vrtis approached Westmont High School staff member Kathy Lott, coordinator of the school's Rotatry Interact Club – of which Vrtis is a member – about using the game drive as a service project for the club.

Rotary Interact is a service club at the high school with about 40 student members who conduct two or three service projects a month, Lott said.

"Our club motto is 'service before self' and these are the kinds of projects we look for," Lott said. "I thought this was a good way that we could help the hospital."

It took off from there.

In January, Vrtis and Westmont High School students began asking students to clean out their closets of games that could be donated. Over a two-week period, they ended up getting more than 30 board and puzzle games.

"We got a real good response from my friends and classmates," Vrtis said. "We were able to get 32 games. And the part that surprised me was that none of them were duplicates, they were all different games."

Vrtis and Lott dropped off the games at the hospital in February, much to the delight of hospital staff.

For Vrtis, who said her sister is now doing better after leukemia treatments, she was happy to be able to help out in a way that would benefit families at the hospital.

"I was glad that we were able to do this," she said. "When I go back to the hospital, I'll see the games there. I and am proud of what we were able to accomplish."