Care packages were put together with toys handpicked by young girls who also painted canvas and wrote notes with encouraging words.
The Girls With Purpose brought toys for the girls making the care packages to choose for their boxes. The care packages will be hand delivered to Palmetto Health Children’s Hospital by the members of Girls With Purpose.
A Sunday spent crafting sounded perfect to a group of elementary aged girls who were willing to give a little of their time to make a childhood cancer patient’s day.
Mary Catherine Gabrielli, a 7-year-old who participated in Craft With Purpose, was excited for the event.
“I really just thought it would be a really nice thing to write notes to people who are not having such a good time in their life, just trying to build them, trying to make them feel better about themselves,” Gabrielli said.
Alexander Piegza, a sophomore at USC, was also at the event. She has always been passionate about community service and was more than happy to share her time to help make the care packages and help little girls like Mary Catherine Gabrielli.
“Doing it for cancer patients, especially kids, that’s something that really is a nice thing to do because they are going through so much at such a young age,” Piegza said. “I just wanted to help out and brighten their days a little bit.”
The Girls With Purpose, a student organized group at the University of South Carolina, gathered elementary girls and college-aged women on Sunday at Whole Foods to help put together care packages for local childhood cancer patients at Palmetto Health Children’s Hospital.
The girls first started crafting cards with encouraging notes and painting canvas with empowering pictures. Later, each person picked out a box to decorate with stickers and glitter and then picked three toys and a book to go into their box along with the notes they wrote and canvas they painted.
The group has created a mentorship program that pairs college-aged women with younger girls in the community. The pairs work together in service-based activities in support of cancer patients. The Girls with Purpose are supported by a nonprofit called With Purpose.
“With Purpose is a community and youth led activism program that creates and provides these events hosted by younger kids in the community for the benefit of childhood cancer patient, advancing treatments and drawing awareness to some of the issues surrounding childhood cancer,” said Maggie Dalton, a student at USC student and a member of Girls with Purpose. “Girls with Purpose works in partnership with them to draw awareness to these issues and advocate for youth led effort and getting involved and creating leadership.”
The Girls With Purpose will hand-deliver these care packages themselves this week. To find out more about the Girls With Purpose and the future events they host, you can follow them on their social media platforms: Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram.
The Girls With Purpose have a mentorship program set up to pair college age women with elementary aged girls. The pairs work together at community service events like Craft With Purpose.
