HealthWise Report: Bravery Bags

 
ALBEMARLE COUNTY, VA (NEWSPLEX)-- Summer break wasn't all about fun in the sun for some students at Charlottesville Day School.
They had a very important project to get up and running.
Fourth grader, Izzy explained, "To me, they're sort of like a bag of joy."
Otherwise known as 'Bravery Bags.'
"We were hoping that it would make them happier and be more brave and think happy thoughts," said Laura, who is going into the fifth grade at Charlottesville Day School.
What started out last spring as pennies in a jar, blossomed into hundreds of dollars and a trip to the store, resulting in a token of encouragement for cancer patients at Sentara Martha Jefferson Hospital.
"The kids at school started raising money and they came to me knowing that I was a breast cancer survivor and said what can we do with, at the time was like $7," said parent Sarah Bealmear. "I said let me go home and think about it. I had seen online about a woman up in New York who made Bravery Bags on a much bigger scale and I thought, oh! We could send the money to her and then I thought, no! We can do Bravery Bags here in Charlottesville."
"There are bubbles and silly string. There's Dove chocolate and kleenex," said Izzy.
And that was just identifying some of the items inside the bags meant to comfort those who get them.
"This is a tough journey and I think knowing that these came from these children is going to make a big difference," said Pat Mitchell who is a nurse at Sentara Martha Jefferson.
"I would want the same if I was that person. It would feel awesome to me if I got that," said Izzy.
This Bravery Bags project is something Charlottesville Day School plans to continue.
Meanwhile, Sentara Martha Jefferson is hoping to extend the concept to include men with cancer, as well.
ALBEMARLE COUNTY, VA (NEWSPLEX)-- Summer break wasn't all about fun in the sun for some students at Charlottesville Day School.
They had a very important project to get up and running.
Fourth grader, Izzy explained, "To me, they're sort of like a bag of joy."
Otherwise known as 'Bravery Bags.'
"We were hoping that it would make them happier and be more brave and think happy thoughts," said Laura, who is going into the fifth grade at Charlottesville Day School.
What started out last spring as pennies in a jar, blossomed into hundreds of dollars and a trip to the store, resulting in a token of encouragement for cancer patients at Sentara Martha Jefferson Hospital.
"The kids at school started raising money and they came to me knowing that I was a breast cancer survivor and said what can we do with, at the time was like $7," said parent Sarah Bealmear. "I said let me go home and think about it. I had seen online about a woman up in New York who made Bravery Bags on a much bigger scale and I thought, oh! We could send the money to her and then I thought, no! We can do Bravery Bags here in Charlottesville."
"There are bubbles and silly string. There's Dove chocolate and kleenex," said Izzy.
And that was just identifying some of the items inside the bags meant to comfort those who get them.
"This is a tough journey and I think knowing that these came from these children is going to make a big difference," said Pat Mitchell who is a nurse at Sentara Martha Jefferson.
"I would want the same if I was that person. It would feel awesome to me if I got that," said Izzy.
This Bravery Bags project is something Charlottesville Day School plans to continue.
Meanwhile, Sentara Martha Jefferson is hoping to extend the concept to include men with cancer, as well.