Photographs and stories by Skip Wachter
A WINNING TEAM
Caleb Cruz-Albino was proud to show his hand-drawn card. Rightly so.
“Do you think this is OK?” The 12-year-old asked, eagerly. It was better than OK.
The cover read: “What do you call a sleeping dinosaur?” On the inside: “A Dino-snore.”
It was perfect. Riddles are popular on cards of encouragement for our kids.
Meanwhile, Caleb’s teammates in the Keystone Football Club MLS Next Academy from nearby Mechanicsburg were gathering around a table at Have A Heart Day, getting ready to put their creative talents to work in more cards.
The 12- and 13-year-old soccer stars said they were not familiar with Caitlin’s Smiles coming into this February event. They were fast learners, quick to understand what it meant to be part of it.
“Today we’re making cards for people who need them,” Caleb said.
Said Aiden Daugherty, 13: “My mom just told me to come. And I wanted to see my teammates. But I feel like this is a good mission. We’re making kids smile while they’re having a hard time.”
BRINGING A LITTLE JOY
It was two hours of measuring and cutting bright, green yarn. Soon, our hospitalized kids would wrap it around specially glued popsicle sticks that had artistically drawn eyes, noses and smiles.
Clearly, the ladies from Members 1st Federal Credit Union were having fun.
“I was here last year. I was doing this exact thing,” Heather Sugden said as she completed another Turtle Weaving craft kit that would be included Bag of Smiles for one of our hospitalized kids.
On Have A Heart Days such as this one, Members 1st has been a loyal friend to Caitlin’s Smiles.
This was Heather Sherman’s first time. “I think this is great. I have a brother who was in the hospital as a child, so I know what this means,” she said. “As an adult, you want to bring whatever comforts you can. Especially to a child.”
It was also Jamie Miller’s first experience. “This is truly an amazing organization in what they do for kids,” she added. “Anything that makes their (hospital) stay better is well worth the time and energy.”
Ryann Burd was quick to voice her support: “It’s great. Anything that brings even a little bit of joy to the kids, I’m happy to help.”
HAVING SO MUCH FUN
Members of the Hearts-N-Hands Sertoma Club were designing Bags of Smiles at their first Have A Heart Day. They were pleasantly surprised.
“I am impressed,” Maureen Williams, the president of the Mechanicsburg-area organization, said with a laugh. “We didn’t come here thinking we were going to be artists. But we’re having so much fun. ”
In addition to these ladies helping bring smiles to ill children and showing that they do indeed have artistic ability, this venture took Maureen back in time. “It’s free therapy,” she said. “It brings me back to the fun of coloring when I was a child.
“Our (Sertoma Club’s) mission is to bring sunshine into the lives of people who have cancer and other life-threatening illnesses.”
Like Maureen, Karen Bissell was enjoying their unexpected task.
“I thought we were coming to stuff crayons into bags,” she said. “We didn’t expect this.”
She welcomed the chance to spend the morning with her clubmates working for our kids in “a noble cause.”
“We’re new members. We joined in January,” Karen said. “My husband passed away in October. I needed to be active and be with women of like minds.”
FOR JOHNNY
Johnny Bricker turned 11 on April 11 amid his brave battle with cystic fibrosis and Maple Syrup Urine Disease. He is reported to be the only person in America with these two illnesses. And his mother says “he is doing well.”
That’s why it was so important for mom Ashley Bricker and Johnny’s 14-year-old sister, Faye, to be part of Have A Heart Day in February. It’s a way of giving back.
Johnny was only days old when doctors told Ashley and her husband, John, that a screening showed he has MSUD, a rare metabolic disorder that prevents a body from breaking down three specific amino acids in protein foods. It causes toxic buildups and his urine to smell like maple syrup.
Not long after that day, the Brickers were told that Johnny also has cystic fibrosis, a genetic disorder which causes a thick mucus buildup that severely damages the lungs, pancreas and other organs.
Ashley said her relationship with Caitlin’s Smiles began when she met founder Cheryl Hornung at a Dauphin neighbor’s home early in Johnny’s struggle. She said Cheryl has been at the Brickers’ side ever since.
“I was looking into nonprofits at the time,” Ashley said. “I thought Caitlin’s Smiles was a good idea. I had no idea what it would come to mean to us.”
Ashley and Faye were assembling Neon Buddy Bands craft kits for our kids. Ashley, a frequent volunteer at Caitlin’s Smiles who was helping at her second Have A Heart Day, praised the “wonderful” organization.
“Caitlin’s Smiles gets it,” Ashley said. “It knows what it’s like to have kids with complexities. Kids in hospitals. Cheryl was always there for us. Through everything. The trips to Philly (to the hospital) … It always made Johnny smile.”
Ashley glanced at the hundreds of volunteers at tables throughout the activities room at Linglestown Life United Methodist Church.
“I don’t think a lot of people here realize the impact that this has,” she said. “They haven’t had a child in hospitals. This is awesome!”
GETTING ACQUAINTED
So often, volunteers come to Caitlin’s Smiles as strangers and leave their sessions as friends.
On this Have A Heart Day, two sisters from nearby Steelton and a student from Harrisburg area’s West Shore were getting acquainted at a table as they designed Bags of Smiles.
For Rose Grasa and her sister Kelli Ward, this winter Saturday morning was their first time with this mission.
“I can’t wait to come back,” Rose said. “This is a lot of fun. It’s very positive. It’s a noble cause.”
Kelli said she was there because her sister brought her.
“I was looking for some way to volunteer,” Kelli said. “This is great. It’s a great cause. The people here are friendly. They’re helpful. I want to come back and bring my other sister and niece next time.”
Chris, a junior at Cumberland Valley High School, was helping out at her second Have A Heart Day. She is familiar with Caitlin’s Smiles as a volunteer with the Kits for Kids Club at her school.
“This is really a great way to spend my time,” she said.
Photographs and stories by Skip Wachter
