SYRACUSE — For a few children, this holiday season will be filled with IV needles, medicine, and daily doctor visits in a dreary hospital room.
One local dance team decided to make a difference for those children by making more than a hundred activity bags containing reading and coloring books, crayons, small toys and stuffed animals.
The Syracuse High School Dance Line delivered those bags on Dec. 15 to McKay-Dee Hospital, Davis Hospital and Medical Center, and Ogden Regional Hospital for the pediatric units.
Casey Davis, a Child Life Specialist at McKay-Dee Hospital, is one of those who will be handing out the activity bags to the kids. She said the bags and other donated items are critical for boosting the kids’ spirits.
“During the holidays, and any time of the year, the experience is a little bit traumatizing for kids, and not always a positive experience with some of the procedures they have to get,” said Davis. “We try and normalize their environment with some familiar things that are friendly and fun, like these activity bags.”
The hospitals rely heavily on the community for donations. Davis said she has activities on hand she can use with the kids, but anything they get to give the kids comes directly from community support.
When kids receive an activity bag, she says it lights up their world.
“When they are going through a hard time, I’ll tell them our brave kids have to go through this to get a surprise, so it helps them to be brave a little longer so they can get their surprise,” said Davis.
The Syracuse High Dance Line has 29 members, who each took charge of sewing up the draw string bags and filling the bags. The team paid for most of the items on their own.
Cristina Powers, the Dance Line Advisor, said the team had been trying to decide how to help others this season, when they remembered a couple of students at their school who are battling cancer. At that point, the team decided to help other children experiencing illness.
“They really wanted to serve other people and help in the community, especially during the holidays when families want to be home,” said Powers.
Mckena Franklin, captain of the Syracuse Dance Line, said they started working on the project before Halloween.
“I really like doing this because my older sister was in the hospital at one point and it made her feel so loved and appreciated,” said Franklin.
Last year, the team made pillow blankets and delivered them to the women and children’s shelter. She said the team enjoyed the experience so much that they were looking forward to finding another good service opportunity this year.
“I’m hoping the kids will think that’s really cool that a bunch of high school girls set the time aside to make these and buy the items ourselves,” said Franklin.
Emily Frei is new to the team this year as a sophomore, so she was impressed with how close the team became while working on the service project.
“This experience has really bonded us as a team, but also I feel like the kids need it so much,” said Frei. “I think it will mean a lot to them and help them feel appreciated and loved.”
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