Throughout the week of Feb. 5, Cabrini University’s Social Work Club hosted events during which students could make Valentine’s Day cards. This is an annual event in which the club invites students to make cards which are then sent to children in hospitals.
Cards sent to local hospitals
This year the cards will go to St. Christopher’s Hospital for Children in Philadelphia as well as the Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia. In previous years, the club received over 100 Valentine’s Day cards and split them evenly between multiple hospitals. The same remains true for this year’s card submissions. The goal of making and sending these cards is to bring a sense of joy to the kids. Mariana Cruz-Sanchez, junior social work major with a minor in psychology, is the president of the Social Work Club.
“Valentine’s Day is a special day for friends and family, but nobody really focuses on children who are in hospitals. It fills in that gap,” Cruz-Sanchez said. “With these cards, the goal is to bring a sense of happiness to these children who are not in the best conditions.”
Students joined the Social Work Club in Founders Hall and Iadarola Center to color and design cards. Adel Kazzaz, freshman graphic design major, is a member of the Social Work Club and enjoyed the experience of creating the cards.
“I think that creating Valentine’s Day cards for children is a good cause,” Kazzaz said. “I really enjoyed it because I got to put some of my creativity to work and use my own ability for a good cause.”
Social work club events
The Social Work Club gives students a chance to help other people. Cruz-Sanchez works to organize community service opportunities off campus, but as the club’s president she tries to provide those same opportunities for students on campus.
“In the beginning of last semester, I had this idea to start a ribbon awareness project,” Cruz-Sanchez said. “Just trying to raise more awareness in this community about different things that aren’t talked about.”
Each month the club sells its ribbons in the Founders Hall lobby to spread awareness about whatever social issue the month highlights.
“I enjoy helping others and using my abilities to try and make the world a better place,” Kazzaz said.
From being a member of the Social Work Club to becoming its president, Cruz-Sanchez had similar reasons for joining.
“I really enjoy doing community service and volunteering opportunities and I wanted to share that with other people on campus,” Cruz-Sanchez said.
Student engagement
The club and its members encourage students to engage with the events they offer. They feel that even small actions like making a Valentine’s Day card for a child in a hospital is a good act and allows students to gain something from it as well.
While this year’s Valentine’s Day card creation already passed, the club will host the event next February and other events throughout the year.
If students want to keep up to date with the Social Work Club and the events it hosts they can email Mariana Cruz-Sanchez, the club’s president, at mc11421@cabrini.edu. From there they’ll be added to an Outlook email group. They also encourage students to follow their work on Instagram @Cabrini_SocialWorkClub.
