Kid-Created Hospital Cart Brings the Back-to-School Rite of Passage to Kids Fighting for Their Lives

Baltimore, Md. (August 6) -- For many school-aged children, late summer brings a familiar rite of passage: walking down store aisles, testing out fresh markers, and picking out the perfect set of pocket folders and backpack for the first day of class.

For critically-ill children undergoing intensive medical care, however, that tradition is often out of reach.

To bridge that gap, the We Cancerve Movement’s all-youth board of advisors brought the school supplies shopping experience directly to the patients through their annual "Back-to-School Buggy" project. Rolling through the hallways of the pediatric oncology outpatient clinic at LifeBridge Health’s Sinai Hospital and the nearby Ronald McDonald House, both in Baltimore, the mobile cart allows hospitalized and critically-ill children to "shop" for brand-new school supplies for free right from their hospital rooms, chemotherapy infusion chairs, or respite suites.

The project, supported this year by the Missionary Society of St. James AME Church-Green Street in Havre de Grace, Md., aims to restore a sense of normalcy and joy to kids whose schedules are dictated by medical appointments, tests and treatments rather than school calendars.

Yet, bringing cheer to a hospital floor often comes with a stark lesson in reality.

During their stop at Sinai, Board Members Gloria Park, 15, a rising sophomore at Patterson Mill High School in Bel Air, and Nael Lewis-Shakur, 14, a rising freshman at the Gilman School in Baltimore, experienced the harsh unpredictability of childhood cancer. None of the patients in the clinic that day were able to participate in the Buggy project.

One child was abruptly admitted to the hospital. An adolescent girl, overwhelmed and emotional, declined to shop; she simply was not up for visitors that day. A third patient quietly shared that he wouldn't be stepping foot inside a schoolhouse for most of this academic year due to his demanding treatment schedule.

The bounty of unclaimed backpacks and untouched supply cart drawers were heavy blows for the once-excited youth volunteers, but their optimism outweighed their sadness and disappointment.

“I thought the experience was amazing; I love this project,” said Park, who oversees We Cancerve’s hospital initiatives portfolio. “It was very eye-opening. When Nael brought up this idea in our board meeting, I was like ‘wow’; I didn’t think about that, really.

She said she was sad to not share the experience with hospitalized children this year.

“But I totally understand. It’s like these kids are going through stuff. They may not want this interaction but I think that it’s amazing that we” offer this project, she said.“For me, back to school shopping is really nostalgic and I love doing it every year so I want to bring that love to these kids. Back to school shopping is kind of a way to express myself through my items.”

She noted that her interests grow, shift or change each year. Looking back over the years, she can see how her interests have grown. When she was younger, she said she selected more colorful school items. Now that’s just a few years outside of high school graduation, her tastes gravitate to more aesthetically pleasing designs and colors.

Lewis-Shakur, whose friends helped him develop this initiative, agreed.

“It was unfortunate that we couldn’t give them out to people. Some people may not want to interact or just feeling down right now but it’s good to know if they want to come through and grab [the supplies], they can,” said Lewis-Shakur, who left a few backpacks he and Park stuffed with supplies behind for the patients.

The tone shifted dramatically three days later, when Park rolled the Back-to-School Buggy over to the Ronald McDonald House of Maryland, where families stay while their children receive long-term care at area hospitals.

There, the buggy was met with bright smiles and eager hands. Sixty-eight school-aged children were staying in the house when Park arrived with her dad and parents of We Cancerve’s Founder Grace Callwood – T’Jae and Theodore Ellis, Jr. Children - along with as many parents shopping on behalf of kids confined to inpatient hospital beds - picked out crayons, colored pencils, notebooks, pens, and backpacks. The biggest hit though: pencil cases!

The interactions highlighted both the resilience of the families and the long roads to recovery many of them face.

One young shopper who visited the buggy in early August faces a stay at the Ronald McDonald House through October while undergoing extensive medical care. Another child had already been residing at the house for four weeks, with plans to briefly return home before heading back to Baltimore for another six-week stretch of treatment.

For Park, pointing out to the children the many school supplies in each of the mobile cart’s drawers made the week's earlier emotional hurdles worthwhile.

"Seeing their faces light up when they picked out their own supplies was amazing," Park said. “For a few minutes, they weren't thinking about doctors or treatments. For the time they were with us, they appeared truly happy. Our mission was complete.”

We Cancerve will return to the Ronald McDonald House again later this month and in early September. To contribute to supplies to the Back-to-School Buggy, please contact Gloria Park or Nael Lewis-Shakur at wecancervemovement@gmail.com and note “Back-to-School Buggy” in the subject line.

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