“Spark Squad” Project Designed to Comfort Pediatric Patients, Families

The Junior Leadership Northeast team, known as the “Spark Squad,” has officially completed its community service project benefiting children and families at Geisinger Janet Weis Children’s Hospital in Wilkes-Barre.

The Spark Squad, a group of local high school students participating in Junior Leadership Northeast, spent the past several months fundraising, organizing donations, and assembling comfort items designed to help “spark joy” for children and families during hospital stays.

As part of the initiative, the students created hand-tied fleece blankets, assembled joy bags filled with goodies and entertainment items, and collected books and DVDs for pediatric patients. The donations were officially delivered to the hospital following the completion of the project.

The students funded the initiative through community support efforts, including a Panera fundraiser, monetary donations, and purchases made through the team’s Amazon wish list. Community members also contributed materials and supplies that helped expand the team’s impact.

“We wanted to bring awareness to the fact that Geisinger Janet Weis Children’s Hospital is right here in our own community,” the team shared. “Our goal was to help bring comfort and happiness to children and families going through difficult times.”

One of the project’s final milestones included a blanket-making event where team members gathered to hand-tie fleece blankets together.

Coffee Inclusive, a Pittston bakery and café that employs individuals with disabilities, allowed the Spark Squad to utilize its community space, providing the students with an ideal environment to efficiently complete the blankets.“Their welcoming atmosphere and flexible community space made our blanket-making day a huge success,” the team said. “We’re incredibly grateful for their support.”

The students also expressed appreciation for Denise Perkowski at Geisinger, whose coordination and support helped make communication, planning, and the hospital delivery process run smoothly from start to finish.

The students also reflected on the impact of personally delivering the donations to the hospital.

“When we made the delivery to the hospital, we really got to see firsthand the impact we could make,” said Spark Squad team member Sara Golden. “While we weren’t able to fully visit the pediatric spaces in order to protect both our health and the children’s health, we were able to walk through and make our drop-off. Seeing the donations fill corners of the hospital with some of our joy was incredibly meaningful. With the permission and assistance of parents and nurses, we were even able to personally deliver blankets and customized bags to a few children.”

The students also thanked the many community members, donors, supporters, and local businesses who contributed to the project through fundraising participation, donations, wish list purchases, and encouragement throughout the process.

The project served not only as an opportunity to support local children and families but also as a hands-on leadership experience for the students involved.

Junior Leadership Northeast is a youth leadership development program that brings together high school students from across the region to strengthen leadership skills, teamwork, community engagement, and servant leadership.