Costumed superheroes serve as window washers at children’s hospitals

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By Cheryl K. Chumley

The Washington Times

Friday, February 22, 2013

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It’s a bird. A plane. It’s … a window washer.

From Florida to Texas, Pennsylvania to Illinois, do-gooder volunteers are donning superhero costumes, grabbing bucket and squeegee and climbing the windows of children’s hospitals nationwide. Their mission is simple: To bring a smile to the faces of the young patients inside. And they’ll go to great lengths to accomplish that.

“We donned the Spider-Man costumes and we rappelled down the side of the buildings,” said Harold Connolly, president of Highrise Window Cleaning of Clearwater, Fla., according to USA Today. “We knocked on the glass, waved hello. There were a lot of smiles.”

Videos and pictures of smiling patients caught off guard by the peeping Batmen and Supermen and Captain Americans have gone viral, USA Today reports.

“Some of these poor kids, they don’t get a lot of opportunities for anything fun there,” Mr. Connollly said, in the report. “It cheered them up at least for the moment anyway.”

USA Today reports the trend has spread. Le Bonheur Children’s Hospital in Memphis, Tenn, reported a sighting of elves in December. Ministry St. Joseph’s Children’s Hospital in Marshfield, Wis., caught a hat-trick in December, when Spider-Man, Batman and Captain American all visited.

About the Author

Cheryl K. Chumley

Cheryl Chumley is a continuous news writer for The Washington Times. Previously, she was part of the start-up team for The Washington Times’ digital aggregation product, Times247. She’s also a 2008-2009 Robert Novak journalism fellow with The Phillips Foundation. She can be reached at cchumley@washingtontimes.com.