Jim and Carrie Benson

‘For that smile:’ Why the Bensons give back to patients, team members in Plano

 

Family means everything to Carrie and Jim Benson.  

The Plano couple loves spending time together with their two children and six grandchildren. Whether they’re celebrating holidays at their lake house, taking the grandkids for donuts on the weekends or all gathering for their weekly Friday night dinner, they value their time with each other.  

And their love for children expands beyond the walls of their home. They are committed to supporting philanthropic organizations such as Children’s Health that touch the lives of kids.  

Carrie serves as a member of the Women’s Auxiliary to Children’s Medical Center Plano, and for several years, she and Jim have made impactful philanthropic investments to care for patients at Children’s Health. One of their biggest gifts was a sponsorship of the Women’s Auxiliary’s Legacy of Love event, which helped raise funds to expand and enhance the Women’s Auxiliary All-Abilities Playground at Children’s Health Medical Center Plano, the suburban Children’s Health hospital.  

When the Bensons learned the Auxiliary’s fundraising efforts would create an all-abilities playground for patient families, they were all in.  

“That’s the greatest noise - kids outside playing and laughing. Seeing a child with a smile is the best thing in the world,” Carrie said.  

She also volunteers at the Plano campus. During each shift, she and another volunteer operate the Patient/Family Support Cart, moving from room to room on each floor, delivering complimentary snacks and toiletries to patients and their families. Carrie said because oftentimes families have to rush their child to the hospital without care items packed, she has witnessed how appreciative a patient’s caregiver is to receive a toothbrush or hairbrush.  

“For three seconds when those children are picking out their great snacks, they’re just a child. They’re not sick, they’re just picking out their snacks. That’s why I’m doing it – for that smile,” Carrie said. 

Through her volunteering at Children’s Health, Carrie knows how important the work of child life team members is to the care of kids. Programs like child life -- which provide coping strategies and help make life easier for those experiencing the unthinkable -- are offered throughout the hospital at no cost to patient families. The couple has pledged to support future growth of the child life team, enabling them to better care for the increasing number of children who rely on Children’s Health each year.  

And as more families move to North Texas, Carrie and Jim also understand the importance in the growth and expansion of the Plano campus. Scheduled to open in 2024, a new eight-story, 395,000-square-foot tower housing expanded specialty care programs, support services, an amenities center and more will serve the rapidly increasing pediatric population north of Dallas. 

 “There are going to be more and more kids who are going to need services, so as Collin County grows, so does the hospital,” Jim said.