Plain backpacks stuffed with pencil sharpeners, books, night lights, fidget spinners and speakers will be delivered to young children in hospitals after the Bravery Bags community service event hosted by A Moment of Magic at TCU this February.
At the service event, volunteers packed the Bravery Bags and each volunteer wrote an encouraging note for the child. In addition to the Bravery Bags, there was a small raffle for gift cards for the volunteers.
A Moment of Magic is a “nonprofit organization that provides medically vulnerable children with creative programming, outlets and support to foster imagination, friendship and hope through college-students volunteers,” according to the TCU chapter’s website.
Students can audition to be a character for the kids in hospitals. Additionally, volunteers can also participate in video calls and arts and crafts with the children. TCU’s chapter was founded to inspire people to give back to the Fort Worth community and create lasting memories for children in the area.
A Moment of Magic was officially founded on TCU’s campus in October of 2021. Davis Le, the president and founder of the TCU chapter of A Moment of Magic, found out about the organization through one of his high school friends. Le has a desire to give back to his community and he wanted to inspire others to do the same.
There are about 30 chapters in the United States, two of which are in Texas. Along with TCU, Baylor University also has a chapter on their campus.
Le said the chapter at Baylor University reached out about doing a Bravery Bag event for the children in hospitals. Le agreed, and volunteers came ready to make a child’s day.
Lily Ball, a first-year sports broadcasting major, recently joined A Moment of Magic and said she has loved every bit of it. She joined because she wanted to give back to her community and she has witnessed the difficulties of being a child with cancer in her own family.
“Just being able to bring them a moment of magic seemed really cool,” said Ball.
Ball said her favorite part of being a part of A Moment of Magic is the Bravery Bags. She is excited to actually go visit the kids when the pandemic becomes less of an issue.
Chris Allender, vice president of A Moment of Magic, is passionate about giving back to his community, especially during the pandemic. Allender said his favorite part of A Moment of Magic is working with the volunteers.
“It’s really nice when they all come out,” Allender said. “We haven’t been able to work with kids yet because of COVID, but I think it will be super cool once we actually start working with kids.”
According to Le and Allender, the Bravery Bags are a perfect way to get involved despite the pandemic. Le said that they will be delivering the Bravery Bags to the Texas Children’s Cancer and Hematology Centers in Houston in the next few weeks.
In addition to the Bravery Bags, A Moment of Magic hosted a toy drive with theCrew for the children at Cooks Children’s Health Care System. Later this semester, A Moment of Magic will be hosting a 5K to help children in need.
More information about A Moment of Magic can be found on their Instagram and on their website.
