Caitlin’s Smiles: One Mother’s Grief Becomes a Mission of Comfort

Caitlin’s Smiles was born of a grieving mother’s sorrow. In 2000, Cheryl Hornung lost her seven-year-old daughter Caitlin to cancer. But Hornung discovered that helping other children face serious health challenges, as she’d once helped Caitlin, gave her a sense of purpose and her tragedy meaning.

Caitlin’s Smiles grew and thrived, and in time, Hornung made it official, establishing the organization as a nonprofit. Today, volunteers pack craft kits and assemble Bags of Smiles and Coping Kits, sending them out daily to children battling cancer and other serious illnesses in more than 200 hospitals across the Mid-Atlantic region.

We put some questions to Cheryl Hornung, founder and director of small grant recipient Caitlin’s Smiles to learn more:

Kars4Kids: Caitlin’s Smiles grew out of one of the hardest experiences a parent can face — the loss of your daughter, Caitlin. Can you tell us a bit about her story, and what led you to start the organization in 2004?

Cheryl Hornung: My daughter Caitlin was diagnosed with a brain tumor in 1997, when she was four. She went through surgeries and hospital stays, and my husband and I made sure she always had her backpack of craft supplies with her to keep her distracted and happy. She loved coloring pictures and giving them away — she’d spend all her time coloring and handing pictures to every nurse who came into the room. When she was an outpatient, she’d pass out smiley-face cookies and whatever crafts she had that day to the other kids, doctors, and nurses. We found with her that healing was as much mental as it was physical.

I was still wracked with grief when I picked up the phone in December of 2000 and called Penn State Hershey Children’s Hospital. Caitlin had died of cancer that October, just before what would have been her 8th birthday. I’m a bargain shopper — I snatch things up when I see a good deal — so I’d already bought her birthday and Christmas gifts. I asked the hospital if I could bring them all in, and I saw what a difference that made for the kids. Bringing smiles to sick children gave me a smile of my own, and it gave me a mission. Three years later, I started Caitlin’s Smiles.

Kars4Kids: Caitlin was known for coloring pictures and giving them away to nurses, doctors, and other patients, even during her own treatment. How did that instinct shape the programs you eventually built?

Cheryl Hornung: After she passed, I kept thinking back to her backpack of crafts, and to all the other kids in the hospital with nothing like that to get them through the long hours. That stayed with me. In 2004, I decided to take the plunge and start Caitlin’s Smiles. It grew fast — I built up a group of volunteers to help me buy, pack, and deliver different kinds of goody bags, and we’ve relied ever since on donations of money and supplies, fundraisers, the occasional grant, and a lot of volunteer hours. I am shocked daily by the outlet this gives people who need to spread smiles, not just receive one. I saw my clients as just being the kids and families. Staying this connected to Caitlin has been a comfort — most of the time I really feel her presence up there guiding me. I know she’d say, “Way to go, Mom. I love this!”

Kars4Kids: Can you describe a Bag of Smiles, what its purpose is, and what goes into putting one together?

Cheryl Hornung: Each Bag of Smiles contains a volunteer-made greeting card, two individual craft kits, two cans of Play-Doh, a journal, coloring or drawing materials, a small toy or book, and a Caitlin’s Smiles flyer. Paper gift bags decorated by volunteers, or fabric tote-bags sewn by volunteers, hold all these goodies. To ensure that children can fully enjoy the contents of their bags, each Bag of Smiles is made for a specific age range and gender. These bags are generally given to children during hospital stays or treatment days. All Bags of Smiles are created by specially trained volunteers.

Whatever the gift, the results are the same for all who are touched by these simple gifts: fun, smiles, reduced anxiety, and the realization that others care. The children receiving the gifts, their family, medical staff, and Caitlin’s Smiles volunteers and staff all benefit from the joy these simple gifts bring.

Kars4Kids: Can you tell us about the purpose of Coping Kits, how they differ from a full Bag of Smiles, and what it’s like designing something for kids who might only have a few minutes before a procedure?

Cheryl Hornung: Coping Kits are mini Bags of Smiles and are geared for children in emergency room or out-patient surgery settings. Each Coping Kit contains a volunteer-made greeting card, one mini Play-Doh, small journal with stickers, a craft kit, coloring page, a few crayons, and a small toy, packaged in a quart-size zip-locking baggie.

Kars4Kids: Can you tell us about Camp-in-a-Bag? Did you start this program because some kids are too ill to attend summer camp?

Cheryl Hornung: During the summer of 2020, due to the pandemic, in-person summer medical camps for pediatric patients were canceled. Camp staffers worked diligently to find alternative programming for their campers. Caitlin’s Smiles worked with them to provide activities for their virtual campers — and “Camp-in-a-Bag” was born!

Camp-in-a-Bag continues and serves many in-person medical camps. Each bag contains five fun craft activities for each camper to complete. The bags are packed with the same five kits so the kids can all work on the same crafts together.

 

Kars4Kids: You’ve said healing is as much a mental process as it is a physical one. How do you see that idea show up in the way sick kids respond to your programs?

Cheryl Hornung: We receive many texts and emails from children and families who have received our “Smiles,” and share those with our volunteers and supporters through our e-blast and social media posts. The comments of parents about their children who received goodies from us include: “He truly lit up”; “Helped her focus on other things than her pain”; “You made his morning”; “Less stressful stay”; and “Brought joy and smiles.”

Kars4Kids: Caitlin’s Smiles runs largely on volunteers who make the cards, kits, and bags by hand. What has surprised you most about the community that’s grown up around this work?

Cheryl Hornung: Our mission statement begins with “Powered by a passionate group of volunteers,” and that passion has been the biggest surprise in forming Caitlin’s Smiles, especially with our “regulars.” These women and men volunteer every week, often for more than one day, and take on several responsibilities. We’ve all become entwined in each other’s lives, through life events, illnesses, and deaths. We celebrate with each other, encourage each other, and mourn together. This has become the unintentional secondary mission of Caitlin’s Smiles.

Besides the regulars, we have hundreds of volunteers doing a variety of tasks – at our facility and off-site – allowing us to reach children in over 200 facilities in eight states. Without our volunteers, Caitlin’s Smiles would not exist.

Kars4Kids: From the church office in Dauphin to your current headquarters in Harrisburg, the organization has grown well beyond what started as a one-woman mission. What milestone are you proudest of?

Cheryl Hornung: The number of Smiles we’ve spread – 2.8 million and counting!

Kars4Kids: You work closely with medical staff to make sure activities are safe and appropriate for pediatric patients. What does that collaboration look like behind the scenes?

Cheryl Hornung: I have email and phone call conversations with nurses and child life staff to ensure what we provide meets the needs and requirements of the pediatric patients they serve.

Kars4Kids: What’s next for Caitlin’s Smiles?

Cheryl Hornung: More of the same!