Shining Star of Fort Worth: Cook Children's Receives Golden Deeds Award from Exchange Club
Forbes, Newsweek, and now the Fort Worth Exchange Club!
This is a fantastic moment to celebrate our collective efforts! Cook Children's has been awarded the prestigious Golden Deeds Award by the Exchange Club of Fort Worth. This award recognizes us as the city's most outstanding citizen, highlighting the incredible impact we make on the lives of children in Tarrant County. Please scroll down to watch this very special video, to read Mr. Merrill's acceptance speech and more.
A Huge Thank You to Our 10,000 Employees!
This award wouldn't be possible without each and every one of you. Your dedication, compassion, and expertise in providing exceptional pediatric care are at the heart of everything we do.
The Golden Deeds Award acknowledges our 106-year legacy of exceptional health care delivered with kindness, generosity, safety, respect, collaboration and imagination. For generations, we've not only provided vital services but also positively contributed to the economic well-being of our community.
Following in the Footsteps of Greatness
We join a distinguished group of past recipients, including Amon Carter, a renowned Fort Worth leader, and the Fort Worth Stock Show & Rodeo.
Specifically, in a quote to the Fort Worth Report our President and CEO Rick W. Merrill said: "We are deeply grateful to the Fort Worth Exchange Club and its members for recognizing Cook Children's with the prestigious Golden Deeds Award. It does not go unnoticed that we follow in the footsteps of countless trailblazers who have defined and shaped this city.
This recognition shines a light on the incredible legacy of care we've built over the last century and inspires us to continue writing the next chapter of this story – a story fueled by compassion, expertise and community collaboration. On behalf of our 10,000 employees, thank you."
Congratulations once again to the entire Cook Children's family! Let's keep up the amazing work!
Mr. Merrill's Acceptance Speech
Here is the text of the acceptance speech our President and CEO Rick W. Merrill delivered when he received the award on behalf of all of you on May 16, 2024. To see remarks from Peter Philpott, Cook Children's Board Chair, please click here.
Good evening everyone, and what an incredible honor it is to accept this Golden Deeds Award on behalf of Cook Children's. It is a recognition not just of the work we do today, but of the legacy we inherit – a legacy born from compassion in a time of hardship. And a legacy that is more important today than it has ever been.
I would ask you to reflect back a moment to the children we saw in the opening of the video. The year was 1918, and the Great Orphan Train movement was rolling across America leaving heartbreak in its wake. As the train reached Fort Worth, one of its last stops, it carried the few remaining children … those who were the smallest and weakest.
But amidst this despair, a light shone. Reverend IZT Morris, a beacon of hope, found homes for these overlooked children. That same year, Cook Children's began its journey as the Fort Worth Free Baby Hospital. These are the roots we stand upon – roots of resilience, visionary leadership, and a community that fiercely protects its most vulnerable.
Fast forward to today. We celebrate not just the Golden Deeds Award, but our century of care. We have grown from our humble beginnings to become one of the finest children's hospitals in the world. This transformation is a testament to the unwavering dedication of countless individuals who uphold our promise to care for every child in need. They include doctors, nurses, staff, and yes, many of you in this very room.
I want to conclude this evening with a story that captures the very essence of what makes Cook Children's, and Fort Worth, so extraordinary.
A few years ago, we cared for a young girl who'd been in a horrific accident.
Weeks of rehabilitation loomed, and one crucial goal was simply getting her up and into the shower.
Christmas Eve arrived. Exhausted but determined, a nurse at the end of her long shift, and certainly ready to be home with her own family, went the extra mile by helping the girl stand and walk to the shower.
The young patient’s fear threatened to derail their progress, but then, a moment of profound trust transpired - what we would call a moment of magic.
As she embraced her nurse and clung tightly with both arms, the girl whispered to her caregiver: "I trust you. I trust you. I trust you."
Standing in the shower with the child in her arms - water cascading down her back with socks inevitably soaked - this nurse knew that she would not have wanted to be anywhere else. Because in that moment, she was more than a nurse, she was a part of something bigger. A community that wears its heart on its sleeve… a community with soppy socks.
There are countless stories like this at Cook Children's, stories fueled by compassion, expertise, and yes, sometimes, even soppy socks. It is a legacy we share, not just with the children we treat, but with all of you, the Fort Worth Exchange Club. Many of you have served on our boards, guiding us with your wisdom and generosity. You, too, wear soppy socks.
Tonight, we are deeply grateful for this recognition. But our true reward lies in the faces of the children we heal every day. Together, we will continue to write the next chapter of Cook Children's story, a story of hope, resilience, and a community that always goes the extra mile, even if it means getting our socks a little wet.
Thank you, and good evening.