CFFC got a big boost from student leaders on March 20, 2014. The event was the annual conference for District XI of the New York State Council on Leadership and Student Activities; hosting over 700 students from 34 school districts in western New York.
The statewide organization identified cystic fibrosis as their focus charity for 2014. Accordingly, District XI chose CFFC for their community service project at the annual conference. With so many hands – and so much youthful enthusiasm, a lot of good things were accomplished.
Consistent with the message from the conference keynote speaker, the small acts of kindness performed by the students will translate to a big boost to members of the Rochester/Finger Lakes CF community. Over the course of the day, the students:
- Assembled 400 Hospital Help Packets – 200 each for pediatric in-patients at Golisano Children’s Hospital and adult in-patients at Highland Hospital.
- Applied labels to 400 envelopes that will hold the parking passes and food supplements inserted in the Hospital Help Packets.
- Assembled over 300 Sunshine Baggies (containing LÄRABAR® mini-bars) that will be distributed at the pediatric and adult clinics.
- Prepared 250 “cheer up” greeting cards that will be inserted in the Hospital Help Packets.
The assembly projects were not the only good works performed by the students. Each of the participating school districts brought along a number gift boxes to brighten the day for kids/adults confined to a hospital room. The boxes contain a wide range of goodies including crayons and coloring books, decks of cards, stuffed animals, boxes of Kleenex, and more. The total haul was enough to fill two cars – over 100 gift boxes. CFFC is currently exploring the best way to get these into the hands of the intended beneficiaries.
Aside from these goodies, the conference also provided an opportunity for another part of CFFC’s mission – raising awareness of CF. At the conference closing, we showed a short video of the challenges the students’ peers with CF face in the school environment.
And the icing on the cake: the participants had the option to include a cash donation in their registration fee or leave a donation at the registration table. In addition, Lexi Locey from Lisa Marie’s Hair Salon in Livonia donated all of the fees she collected for golden hair extensions. All together, these pieces added up to $615 in donations to CFFC which were presented to Lisa Brady (CFFC Director) and Greg Smith (CFFC Secretary/Treasurer) at the conference closing.
Following the presentation, we thanked the students for all their work, the gifts and, especially, their caring. We’d also like to give a special thank you to the conference coordinator, Terry D’Imperio, for inviting CFFC and guiding us through the day.