Mille designs his own tray

A sparkling drawing by Mille Nuyts (10) from Oostmalle now adorns the new trays in the children's ward at AZ Turnhout. Mille spent a week in the hospital at the end of last year and created a beautiful drawing of Kiko the monkey, the cheerful mascot. "Every day I finished a little bit more," says a proud Mille.

To brighten up the stay of children at AZ Turnhout, the children's ward at Campus Sint-Jozef has made the meal trays more colorful. At the end of last year, the hospital organised a drawing competition for the children staying there. Mille Nuyts from Oostmalle won with a fantastic drawing, which now graces the new trays.

“When Mille was in the children's ward with meningitis in October last year, he participated in the competition to make a beautiful drawing of Kiko the monkey,” says Hetty Voeten from AZ Turnhout. “Kiko, our mascot, stands for 'Child is King' and accompanies all children during their hospital stay, examinations, and doctor appointments.”

This spring, the team from the children's ward selected 36 wonderful submissions. An innocent child's hand drew Mille’s drawing as the winner. The trays will come into circulation this fall, but Mille already got a preview together with his mom, Ruth Swinnen. “When I was in the hospital, I made a little bit of the drawing every day,” Mille explains. He also got to take a tray home. “We didn’t expect to win. This drawing competition made his hospital stay much more enjoyable,” says Ruth Swinnen.

The company Roltex from Aalst took care of the production of the trays, which measure 32.5 by 26.5 centimeters. “This size is called a half gastronorm, and it's half the size of regular trays,” explains Danielle Ansoms from Roltex. “We made 170 of these cheerful trays for AZ Turnhout. Our employees loved producing such colorful trays.”

But that's not all! The tray is the icing on the cake of a larger project. The staff at AZ Turnhout also had new, cheerful, child-friendly cutlery and crockery made. “The yellow cutlery and crockery also feature a banana, the favorite food of Kiko the monkey,” says Erik Luyten from producer Jos ten Berg. “Like Roltex, we were charmed by this project and gave a substantial discount to AZ Turnhout.”