Emory University senior Reina Factor started Send-A-Smile during her sophomore year of high school, and organization the delivers hand-crafted, personal and caring messages to children in hospitals and in foster care, to remind them that people are thinking about them.
“I was looking for a community service project that would affect hospitalized children and involve other high school students,” Factor explained. “After brainstorming different ideas, I decided to help with a program that sends handmade cards to hospitalized children. I brough supplies to my school, set up a card-making table with two friends and the result was impressive. We made over 100 cards and through an existing organization, sent the completed cards to St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital in Tennessee.”
After her first experience, Factor realized she wanted to continue helping the cause in a more personal, direct way. She wrote a plan for the project, contacted Children’s Hospital of Los Angeles (CHLA), and officially established the Send-a-Smile project for their patients.
The organization has expanded beyond Factor’s high school, and when she arrived at Emory, she knew she wanted to bring it here as well.
“In coming to college, I knew I wanted to continue this project, and contacted hospital in Atlanta to establish Send-A-Smile chapters here,” she said. “We are a chartered organization at Emory, have chapters at other high schools in the Atlanta area, and have sent cards to Children’s Health Care of Atlanta at Egleston’s, Grady Hopsital, other CHOA locations, and to foster children.”
To date, the organization has sent over 4,000 cards.
“The children’s reactiosn when they receive their cards is indescribable,” Factor said. “ She recalled the Hallowen party she attended for the patients at CHOA, where each child is given a costume and they trick-or-treat in the hospital. Over 300 children received cards.
“The smiels on the children’s faces as they opened he cards, read the personalized messages, or saw the intricate pictures, were truly touching. So many of the paretns personally thanked us for our cards, illustrating how meaningful this was not only for the children, but for their families as well,” Factor said.
Factors hopes that when she graduates, the organization will continue to be a large part of the Emory Community.
“The fact that it continued at my high school gives me confidence in the longevity of the project. I would love to see the project become a staple at Emory, and to expand to a number of other hospitals in the greater Atlanta area, as well as around the country,” Factor said.
This article is written by a student writer from the Her Campus at Emory chapter.