AURORA, Colo. — Bill LaJoie must have been destined to spread happiness.
"LaJoie—it means Joy," he said. "What a great name, what a great deal. Thank you, Mom and Dad!"
Every Tuesday at Children's Hospital Colorado, he brings joy— with a bit of help from sugar and caffeine. LaJoie's cookie cart is known throughout the hospital.
"We usually get a message from our secretary that Bill's on the unit — and everybody just kind of flocks to [him]," said Tara Brown, a nurse in the hospital's neonatal intensive care unit (NICU).
"There's nothing like either a dose of sugar, and in some cases, if there's icing on the cookies, a double dose, to really put a smile on somebody's face," said LaJoie.
LaJoie said it's the least he can do for the nurses who work tirelessly — especially those in the high-pressure NICU and pediatric intensive care environments.
"When I was roaming around a little bit earlier, there was an emergency, and you see everybody getting up immediately to deal with it," LaJoie recalled. "When you're under that kind of pressure, seeing this little car come down the hall, all of a sudden it's Christmas."
But this week, Denver7 is delivering something of our own to LaJoie for his 21 years of volunteering — the honor of being an Everyday Hero!
"The one thing about Children's is that whenever you leave, you always feel better than when you walked in," said LaJoie, "And that is exactly how I'd summarize my experience here."
Denver7 features a different Everyday Hero each week. To nominate a hero in your life, click here.