Cards made by local teens for Cards For Hospitalized Kids.
During the 2017-18 school year, a total of 129 teen students participated in 16 programs at the Des Plaines Public Library where they created heart-warming cards for hospitalized children.
These programs were hosted on behalf of Cards for Hospitalized, an organization founded in 2011 by Park Ridge resident Jen Rubino, who suffers from a connective tissue disorder. Now in her early 20s, the Maine South High School graduate was inspired to create the charity after spending time in the intensive care unit as an 11-year-old.
“I was in ICU going through a really hard time and was in a lot of pain after the surgery. I was not doing too well,” Rubino wrote on the organization’s website. “Then, I received a card from a hospital volunteer. It meant so much to me.”
She decided she would make sure as many children as possible would have this experience while they were in the hospital.
For the past few years, according to Heather Imhoff of the Des Plaines Library, students of Des Plaines have been helping Rubino with her goal. Teens are invited to visit the library and make special cards to send to children in hospitals locally and around the nation.
“Cards for hospitalized kids is a great program because it gives our local teens a fun and creative way to earn community service hours, while also providing joy to hospitalized children around the country,” Imhoff told the Journal & Topics.
Meetings are held twice a month throughout the school year and begin again this September.
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