On March 26, Case Western Reserve University’s chapter of Project Sunshine hosted its first Sending Sunshine event. At this event, student volunteers put together craft kits to send to children in hospitals across the nation.

“Our goal was to make 300 kits today and we had already exceeded our goal by a lot,” said Project Sunshine President and third-year student Jessica Chan part way through the event.

Project Sunshine’s purpose in creating these kits was to bring happiness to children suffering from illness and issues that may affect their mental health negatively.

“Mental health is deeply intertwined into the mission of Project Sunshine,” said Chan. “The goal of having these events, where we go in and do crafts with kids is to alleviate that medical environment and make their time a little bit normal. It’s also to have a distraction from the stress that comes with being hospitalized.”

Project Sunshine’s core mission is to help create a less stressful environment for medically challenged children and their families. Their large service sites include University Hospitals of Cleveland and the Ronald McDonald House.

Along with direct service, the club also hosts a semesterly bake sale to raise money for children.
Nationally, Project Sunshine has over 15,000 volunteers and works to help over 100,000 children. They also have four international locations in Canada, China, Israel and Kenya.