Painting Smiles

“Choosing a project that aligned with my passions allowed for as much success as possible and a true willingness to want to help those in my community.”

Background Information

Cameron Somerville grew up wanting to pursue pediatric medicine as a career, encapsulating both her love for medicine and children.  She attended the Fall 2017 semester at Alzar School and thrived.  Combining her passion for medicine and children, she developed a Culminating Leadership Project “Painting Smiles” that would brighten sick children’s days through assistance and interaction, as well as assisting parents with the necessities for newborns.

Implementation of Project

Upon her return from the Alzar School in December 2017, Cameron contacted doctors and therapists at Moses H. Cone Memorial Hospital in order to see what families and children needed most. Over the next five months, Cameron hosted several bake sales, launched a GoFundMe, and promoted donations, ultimately raising two-thousand dollars. She and the action team shopped for diapers, wipes, diaper cream, bibs, pacifiers, and other infant necessities. However, challenges presented themselves through the process. Cameron found that cooperating with the hospital was not ideal, especially during flu season, as well as fundraising, which took much more time than expected.

“Painting Smiles could not have been possible without the hard work from my action team, I will never be able to thank them enough!”

– Cameron Somerville

Results of the Project

​Though challenges presented themselves, Cameron found her project successful. Cameron and her action team have experienced the joy of seeing the smiles on the parent’s faces when we delivered the infant bags. Her action team, consisting of six sophomores, went to the hospital and presented over fifty bags, filled with over one hundred diapers, boxes of wipes, diaper cream, bibs, teething rings, rattles, pacifiers, socks, and a large jars of formula. Some moms began crying, thanking me and my action team for helping with necessities they cannot afford for their newborn.

“If I can help one family through my project, or brighten one child’s hospital stay,  that would be enough for me.”  

– Cameron Somerville

What’s Next?

In the future, Cameron will continue and enhance Painting Smiles until she graduates from Greensboro Day School in the spring of 2020. She hopes to continue creating bags for infants, interact with children in the hospital, and donate supplies for older children. Due to hospital restrictions during flu season, Cameron was unable to interact with the children as planned, but during the summer of 2018, she will completely fulfill her hopes for the project.

“I look forward to continuing my relationship with the hospital, as well as creating sub-projects in the future. I cannot wait to see where my leadership skills will take me through college and beyond!”  

– Cameron Somerville