Treats and Triumphs: Organizing My Own Hospital Service Project - Sanaa Dais

 

Community service has always been something that I have done growing up, so I always knew the value and impact that it had on those in need. From food backs to environmental clean up, I looked forward to community service projects after a long week of school. However, as I started to find my career interest in medicine, and after spending an entire summer at Grady Memorial Hospital, I quickly realized that medicine can be something very dark. A lot of the patients spend extensive time in the hospital, and this ultimately takes a toll on their mental health. 

So, instead of just attending community service projects, I wanted to create my own for a cause that I believed in. I recently launched my own organization called Better and Brighter Dais in late August, and for my first project I wanted to make children in the hospital my main focus. Every year, a lot of patients spend the holidays in the hospital. I decided to partner with Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta, and I decided to call the project “Treats and Triumphs.” The idea of this service project was to bring Halloween to the children who would be spending October in the hospital.

I asked the public for donations so that as many children as possible could have something to lift their spirits. Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta patients range from infants all the way to twenty one year olds. With that being said, there were a variety of donations needed. I created an amazon registry for people to donate so that I could keep track of what I had and what was still needed. These donations included headphones, infant toys, coloring books, markers, fidget toys, and many more. In total, there were over $1,000 total in items raised and over 500 individual items raised. I am so grateful to everyone who donated because something so simple made someone's day. 

The days leading up to the donation project were days of hard work. Alongside my Spelman sisters that lended me a helping hand, it took six hours to pack all 100 baskets and all of the items as well as wrapping them and sorting them by age range. The adult baskets featured headphones, fidget toys, affirmation books, gel pens, phone chargers, and much more. On the other hand, the younger patients received children's coloring books, markers, scratch off books and light up bracelets. 

After delivering the baskets over the fall break weekend, I hope to continue to have service projects for communities that need hope during times like this. Children in the hospital are stripped of going trick or treating, waking up to go downstairs to a Christmas tree, and so many more memories that other children may be experiencing. As someone who wants to go into healthcare and has seen the behind the scenes of what goes on in a hospital environment, I know that the atmosphere can be draining if you do not have an adequate support system. If the hospital can take a toll on adults, then I know for a fact that it takes a toll on children.