The club Kindness 4 Cancer strives to bring joy to young cancer patients by making gifts and small goodies at club meetings to bring to local hospitals and ship worldwide. They meet once a month to make “cards, blankets and tie-dyed shirts for kids in the hospital fighting cancer,” club sponsor Paul Kirk said.

To pay for the materials to make these gifts, the club runs fundraisers at local restaurants. According to junior club president Sophia Shad, Kindness 4 Cancer has an upcoming Chipotle fundraiser. They use the money raised at fundraisers to host various events like “holiday projects, more fundraisers and club meetings,” Shad said.

Once they have the raw materials, the club meets to discuss plans, make goodies and pack them up to ship worldwide. These club meetings are fun and efficient. When they make the gifts, “the members are very motivated and involved,” Kirk said.

To deliver these gifts, Kindness 4 Cancer “go[es] in person to Baltimore Sinai Hospital,” Shad said. 

While there, they also meet with the cancer patients to try to bring them a little joy.

Kindness 4 Cancer doesn’t stick to just local hospitals, as they distribute these goods to cancer patients near and far. “We send these goodies to cancer patients in Ethiopia,” Shad said.

The Kindness 4 Cancer club was made because teens wanted to help the community, but had no opportunities to do so. “I wanted to create this club because I like organizing projects that help underprivileged cancer patients,” Shad said.

While Shad created the club to help the community, other people had more personal reasons for joining Kindness 4 Cancer. “I have had family members who have died of cancer and work regularly with the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society, so it was something I wanted to support,” Kirk said.

The Kindness 4 Cancer club is always open to new members, including those who didn’t join at the beginning of the year. “The group is always looking for new, motivated members. They meet once a month during lunch. Anyone interested can reach out to Sophia at [email protected],” Kirk said.

Shad urges people to come to meetings to learn more about the club and to show support for cancer patients. “It’s not too late to join Kindness 4 Cancer,” Shad said.