Pickering kids fill hospitals with love
Kindergarteners prepare gift boxes for young patients across the GTA
The stacks of Love Boxes inside Room 110 at Frenchman’s Bay Public School are taller than the kindergarten students who are organizing them. They may be only 4 and 5 years old, but this class has inspired students at the Pickering school to fill 47 of the sturdy white boxes stamped with red hearts.
Each one is packed with items for children staying in hospital — everything from crayons and Paw Patrol stuffed animals to Dr. Seuss books and Lego. For older kids, there are magazines, novels, puzzles and cosy socks. “Things that make kids happy,” explained Adelaide Blagoev, 4.
The Love Boxes are for the Super Sophia Project, an initiative started by Pickering’s Sophia Megan and her family.
Sophia was diagnosed with leukemia one month before her second birthday. Now 8 and cancer-free, she and her family give back by distributing thousands of Love Boxes to children in hospital.
Kindergarten teacher Victoria Mills said her students initially set a goal of filling about 20 boxes, one for each classroom at Frenchman’s Bay. It was a target they more than doubled.
“They have been so, so excited to do this,” said Mills, who wants her students to be “community citizens” who have an impact on others.
“It’s teaching them that even though they’re little, they can make a difference in their community.”
The kindergarten students took ownership of the project, carefully writing out an announcement to read over the school’s PA system — even those who are just learning the alphabet helped.
They went from class to class making presentations about the Love Boxes and, when hundreds of donated items rolled in, the kindergarteners sorted them by age and packed the boxes. “It was fun because we’re helping people,” said Ryan Mitchell, 5.
The Super Sophia Project distributes Love Boxes to hospitals in Durham and the GTA.
When the initiative started in 2016, the goal was to distribute 100 boxes to kids in hospital at Christmas. In fact, 1,100 were handed out. Last Christmas, 2,200 boxes were distributed and the goal for this year is 5,000.
For more information, visit thesupersophiaproject.ca or connect on social media on Facebook or Instagram.