It’s hard to ignore the impact of little things when it involves a child whose sad eyes speak volumes. It happened to Jen Koch when she witnessed a hospitalized child smile for the first time in days. She later found out that her creative visits are the one thing a child battling a life-threatening illness longingly looks forward to for a brief respite in their environment. The immediate happiness of her visits with children in the hospital compelled Ms. Koch to create Smiles with Style (SWS).
Smiles with Style is a non-profit volunteer organization dedicated to creating smiles and improving the self-esteem of hospitalized children. Through one-on-one interactions with children SWS volunteers provide mini-makeovers and dress-up experiences for children.
“Children battling life-threatening illnesses may experience a change in their appearance. Perhaps they’ve lost their hair or a limb,” Koch says. “Smiles with Style volunteers help children embrace the changes and feel good about themselves.”
The idea for SWS grew out of Koch’s volunteer experience at Akron Children’s Hospital. She performed a few makeovers for children and saw how easy it was to make an immediate impact.
“The light bulb literally went off,” Koch says. “When entering a child’s room it can be very somber, often times dark and the tension and worry are palpable. By the time we are leaving everyone is smiling and they’ve turned the lights on to take pictures. As I thought about how the simplicity of our format and the relatively low cost, I couldn’t help but try to find a way to mobilize more volunteers to increase our impact.”
Smiles with Style services are free of charge to patients, and all of the makeover products are donated to the children they serve. The makeovers are small in terms of physical transformation, but the huge smiles created are tremendous. Some of the items they may use for girls are tiaras, lip-gloss, costume jewelry and other accessories. They also have sticker tattoos, hats, super hero capes and pirate outfits for little boys.
Smiles with Style strives to achieve the following with each makeover:
Create a diversion from life in the hospital and allow the kids to have fun
Improve their self-esteem and create a positive outlook
Give the children an opportunity to have a voice via choosing colors and styles
Provide a breather to care givers accompanying hospitalized children
Since creating the organization in 2012, Koch has expanded operations throughout Ohio and the volunteers have provided makeovers to hundreds of children. They have chapters in Cleveland, Akron, Columbus, and Dayton. Ms. Koch plans to continue to partner with other major pediatric hospitals so they we can bring smiles to all of the children suffering from illness.
“My hope is to take the concept of Smiles with Style and launch it as a national organization where so many more children in hospitals everywhere can experience a little bit of happiness,” she says.
If you would like to volunteer or donate please visit our website – www.smileswithstyle.org. Just $15 will fund a smile! If you would like more information please contact Ms. Koch at [email protected]. Please enjoy our short video of child interactions and makeovers at UH Rainbow Babies and Children’s Hospital – https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e1VcOtYMMYo
