Melinda Mayton can pinpoint the exact moment when she knew she wanted to be a nurse.
“My sister was sick when she was little, and I saw what those nurses did for her,” said Mayton, 46, a native and resident of Marietta. “I was all set to go to study business, but with 48 hours of seeing them care for her, I decided to go to nursing school instead.”
Mayton, MSN, RN, also dedicated herself to caring for children. For 25 years, she's been on the staff of Children's Healthcare of Atlanta, where she works with young cancer patients.
“Emotionally, it can be so sad seeing a child with cancer or genetic issues they’ve had since birth,” Mayton said. “But knowing you can truly make a difference, to help them heal faster or embrace their struggles, well, there’s not a price to put on that.”
Two years ago, Mayton, inspired by a video about young cancer patients at a summer camp, started Blue Skies Ministries, a nonprofit supported by volunteers who take 12 families on a free retreat to a Florida beach four times a year.
“Even as a young nurse, I wished I could take one of these families to the beach with me,” Mayton said. “I can’t change their financial situation or their stress, but a week away could help them relax.
“For many of these kids, it’s three or four years before they get better. In that time, I’ve seen so many families go through divorce or the siblings wind up in a bad place. I’d watch the child get better but the family fall apart. It didn’t seem fair that, in the end, they have a stressed, strained or broken family.”
A week at the beach can go a long way toward helping families recover their strength while enjoying some pampering and comradery.
“We take care of them, cook their meals, clean up, turn down their beds at night,” Mayton said. “We provide activities and events, and they meet other families to share their stories with. The parents have a night out. It’s not about the sick child; it’s about the whole family.”
Joyce Ramsey Coleman, Mayton’s supervisor at Children’s, wrote poignantly about the nurse’s work outside the hospital.
“Melinda does everything, from raising awareness and funding to planning the program and directing the retreats,” Coleman wrote. “She is proud to offer families a retreat from the storm of life. She is a giver of hope. She is a role model for us on how to make a difference in the lives of children.”
Blue Skies Ministries recently became one of 13 Georgia organizations to form the Stop Childhood Cancer Alliance. The group pools resources to raise awareness about the issues faced by young cancer patients.
For Mayton, being asked to join the alliance confirmed that she’s making a positive impact and fulfilling her dreams.
“I do exactly what I love — taking care of kids,” she said. “I’m single, never been married, never had kids, but this is my dream and I wouldn’t trade it for anything.”
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