Last month, Red Cross Club, a volunteer-based club aiming to help those in need, collaborated with Color a Smile non-profit organization to host its annual Color a Smile event as a way to promote mental well-being and to give back to senior citizens across New York City.
Red Cross Co-Secretary Kavya Reshamwala said, “Color a Smile was an event we started last year due to a shortage of [in-person] events. It aligns with the Red Cross mission of ending human suffering.”
During the event, Harrisites were encouraged to color various images to then be distributed to “anyone that is in need of a smile,” said Kavya. Participants of the event were able to claim up to ten community service hours for attending.
Many students shared positive feedback regarding the event.
Sophomore Kanon Banno said, “I feel like the aspect of coloring really motivated me to attend the event because as high schoolers with tough schedules, we don’t usually get to relax and be mindful without a reason.”
Freshman Fayha Jabeen said, “It was pretty well organized, and it was a nice way to get community service hours while hanging out with my friends.”
Club coordinator and sophomore Malihah Islam reported a larger turnout for the event than previously anticipated, and said that students outside of the club also joined in. “Surprisingly, a lot of people showed up to the event. One of our secretaries sent out information regarding the event to the morning announcement community, and I suppose that’s why so many people came,” she said.
After students finished coloring as many pages as they could, they were instructed to take a photo, send it to the club’s official email, and to submit the physical artwork at the subsequent meeting.
Social Media Manager Celina Li said that while many students were unable to color all 30 pages to receive the full ten hours due to limited time, the board members had planned to email participants out the link to these coloring sheets for people to print and to be able to color more at home.
All of the drawings and coloring pages were collected and will be sent to the Color a Smile organization to be later distributed to nursing homes, retiring homes, or troops overseas. President Chloe Chen said, “Senior citizens […] opt in on their monthly mailing list and [get mail] monthly from volunteers who color their pages.”
“A lot of times people cannot be physically there to show their support for the elderly, so working with this non-profit organization to hold the Color a Smile event at our school allows us to display how much we truly care for their well being, upholding the values of Red Cross,” said Malihah.
Celina said, “It might just be coloring to you, but it can make someone’s day.”
