Marriotts Ridge High School students have an opportunity to make and send handmade cards to hospitalized children across America.
The High School Art Club is collecting Cards for Hospitalized Kids (CFHK). The cards are to be dropped off with Mrs. Miersbond by April 1st so that she may mail them to the hospital.
“Making cards takes little time out of your day and can make a big difference to the kids,” one of the art club’s presidents, senior Emmy Mako said. “From the simplest cards to the most complex, getting a message from someone can make anyone feel better.”
According to junior Annie Chong, the activities officer for the Art Club, making Cards for Hospitalized Kids has become a tradition for the Art Club each year.
“We especially focus on how someone can use their art skills to improve or benefit the community,” Annie Chong said.
The goal of this activity is to make an artistic card that can cheer up the child who receives it. There are some requirements that students must follow, but the cards are largely creative and unregulated. Participants may receive service hours for each artistic card they make.
Making this special gift for someone is a great way to show your support and send powerful emotions.
The Art Club suggests that, when students are writing their message for the card, one should focus on the child as a whole and not on the illness. Students should refrain from using religious implications or phrases like “get well soon” since some of the children have chronic illnesses. Personal information should also be avoided. Additionally, the Art Club asks that the cards submitted display artistic effort and that loose material such as glitter is omitted, as it poses a danger to the receiver.
“Since we’ll be sending cards to ages ranging from small children to late teens, we also want to include a variety of card styles to supply to everyone,” Montana Ignacio, a senior and the co-president for the Art Club, said. “But in the end, we wish that the child receiving the card can appreciate it in their own way. Hopefully, they’re given a card with a style that resonates with them.”
When it comes down to what to put on the card, it could be almost anything. The freedom of what to draw is up to the artist, as long as the card is targeting the young audience.
By making two cards, students have the opportunity to cheer up two children in a hospital and gain one service hour.
If students miss the deadline, they can still send your cards in, just following the directions on the Cards for Hospitalized Kids website on where to mail the cards. The event is year round, so students can continue sending cards after the April 1 Art Club deadline.
“Art has a powerful way of sending messages and emotions to others,” Ignacio said. “An artist can hold the ability to really cheer someone up who needs it…Art is a great way of communicating our support to others in need.”
Sending a handmade card to a child in the hospital could really make a big difference in their day and their mood. Students can share their artistic abilities and creativity to benefit others in their time of struggle and illness.