Sept. 26th marked this year’s first craft kit-making event for the Brock Crafting For a Cure club, which is the Brock chapter of the Crafting For a Cure charity.
At the core of Crafting For a Cure’s mission is to bring a moment of joy to children who are hospitalized through the fun of craft-making.
As a charity, Crafting For a Cure has several programs dedicated to helping children at hospitals, with initiatives such as “Committed to Crafting” which provides craft kits, distractions and motivational cards for children undergoing hospital visits. Additionally, Crafting For a Cure launched the University clubs’ program in 2013, which has expanded the reach of the charity across university campuses, including Brock University.
The Brock Crafting For a Cure team hosted this year’s first craft kit-making event on Sept. 26th, which not only welcomed people from the Brock community to join, but also welcomed Pamela Bielak, founder of the Crafting For a Cure charity.
This year’s first craft kit-making night saw the making of over 200 craft-making kits. The room where the event took place was split into different workstations to assemble the craft kits collaboratively between club executives and students.
As for what the craft kits look like, the Brock chapter usually puts together two main types: one for emergency room visits and one for regular hospital visits. Craft kits designed for regular or extended hospital visits are usually more time consuming for the kids to put together, being packed with materials for projects such as paper chain jellyfish or windchime-making kits. On the other hand, emergency room kits tend to include shorter activities such as colouring pages.
On a yearly basis, Brock Crafting For a Cure hosts several craft kit-making events to make craft kits and distribute them to hospitals in the Niagara Region. Brock Crafting For a Cure also hosts other events, such as game nights for club members to bond.
According to Isabella Worden, co-president of Brock Crafting For a Cure, the craft kits made by club members are routinely sent to three hospitals, including the St. Catharines Hospital and the Welland Hospital emergency rooms. Likewise, the club is aiming to distribute these kits to two more hospitals soon, opening the opportunity for even more craft kits to be made.
Helping children is always what motivates club members and executives to make a difference. “Our motivating factor is to make kids smile,” said Worden.
“I like doing it because I know when I was a kid, I had a lot of appointments in hospitals… I think these craft kits are just something to take the time away,” said Worden.
To keep up with Brock Crafting For a Cure, follow them on Instagram and check out their ExperienceBU.