LANSING, Mich. — While most people associate Valentine's Day with roses and chocolate, Keith Urban fans think of monkeys.
For the past 13 years, the country music star and his fans have collected stuffed monkeys and donated them to hospitals on holidays.
On Thursday, pediatric patients at Sparrow Hospital in Lansing received over 200 stuffed monkeys. It's the first time one of their monkey drives has benefited a Michigan hospital.
"I was shocked by how many there are," said Jodi Winsett-Nohel, a certified child life specialist at Sparrow Hospital. "It's really exciting and it's quite a sight to see all of the monkeys just spread out over the stretcher."
So, why primates? As it turns out, Keith Urban's fan club used to be called Monkeyville and, through that, fans like Rebekah Wolff began to collect stuffed monkeys to give to those in need.
"My son spent a lot of time in the hospital growing up," said Rebekah Wolff, a Keith Urban fan and the organizer of the Sparrow monkey drive. "He was here in Sparrow quite a bit growing up, and it was those little things that were nice that people would bring in, so I wanted to be able to pay that back, and to be able to provide something to put a smile on these kids' faces. Especially on a holiday."
"I think I've been amazed every day just by the outpouring of the community and how much people care," said Ali Burns, a child life intern at Sparrow. "Even if it's just a little monkey, it brightens a kid's day. I was able to give one monkey away to a patient and it kind of lit up her eyes. It was a little home away from home."
"Valentine's Day is about love, and love is about taking care of people, and I think that's what these monkeys represent, is taking care of people," said Winsett-Nohel.
Though Valentine's Day 2019 was the first time Wolff has collected and dropped off monkeys for Sparrow Hospital, she says she hopes to make it into an annual drive.
Nationally this year, Keith Urban fans have collected and distributed over 4,100 monkeys, which is the most the group has ever collected in 13 years.
