Boxing up smiles for kids
Jared Boxes help entertain children during their time in the hospital
Leah Frederick (left) and Jamie Murphy organize Jared Boxes to be distributed to children at UPMC Altoona during the holiday season. The effort started in 2001 at Our Lady of Victory Catholic School in State College to honor their classmate and friend, Jared, who battled cancer. Since then, nearly 1 million boxes have been delivered to more than 400 hospitals in the United States. / Courtesy photo
Jennifer Terza (left) and Gracie Bradley organize Jared Boxes to send to children in the emergency room or intensive care unit at UPMC Altoona. The boxes contain items such as coloring books, stuffed animals and games to help them pass the time and take their minds off of being in the hospital. Courtesy photo
Leah Frederick (left) and Jamie Murphy organize Jared Boxes to be distributed to children at UPMC Altoona during the holiday season. The effort started in 2001 at Our Lady of Victory Catholic School in State College to honor their classmate and friend, Jared, who battled cancer. Since then, nearly 1 million boxes have been delivered to more than 400 hospitals in the United States. / Courtesy photo
Jennifer Terza (left) and Gracie Bradley organize Jared Boxes to send to children in the emergency room or intensive care unit at UPMC Altoona. The boxes contain items such as coloring books, stuffed animals and games to help them pass the time and take their minds off of being in the hospital. Courtesy photo
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Some children in the hospital during the Christmas season will receive boxes filled with gifts to help make their stay a little bit brighter.
Students from Cambria Heights High School collected items to fill shoe box-sized containers called Jared Boxes.
According to the Jared Box Project website, the effort started in 2001 by the children of Our Lady of Victory Catholic School in State College to honor their classmate and friend Jared, who battled cancer.
Since then, more than 999,000 Jared Boxes have been delivered to over 400 hospitals across the United States.
At Cambria Heights, teacher Michele Schift said 450 students put together 124 boxes.
"There was a challenge among all the homerooms to see which could fill more boxes," she said.
These Jared Boxes were delivered to UPMC Altoona.
"They are given to kids who are in the (emergency room) or the (intensive care unit). It is to help keep their mind from being in the hospital," Schift said.
Ninth grade student Alyssa Miller said she loved giving gifts to kids in the hospital.
"They don't have to think of things that might be bad or uncomfortable for them when they receive the gifts," she said.
Inside the boxes, kids will receive items to help them pass the time, such as stuffed animals, coloring books, crayons, craft supplies, toys, games and anything else fun.
McKenzie Henry said her homeroom tried to bring in a lot of items and nice stuff so the kids in the hospital could have more.
"I enjoyed the idea of the kids having stuff to do especially while they might be in the hospital during Christmas," she said.
This is the second year that the school has participated in this project, Schift said.
"These kids did an amazing job this year, and I also wanted to thank all the staff for participating," she said.
Mirror Staff Writer Cati Keith can be reached at 814-946-7535.