Making Dreams Come True
By Christina Bradshaw
Kylee McGrane had always loved princesses, fairytales, and community service. So when she was a 20-year-old sophomore at the College of Mount Saint Vincent in New York, she came up with a totally brilliant idea: She dressed up as her favorite Disney character, Elsa, and visited sick kids at the local hospital. Of course, the patients loved it! That one visit inspired many more. With help from her college roommate Maggie McAndrews, in 2014 Kylee launched a nonprofit called A Moment of Magi, a “dressing up” charity with chapters at colleges across the country. Their volunteers have made thousands of kids smile.
We spoke to Kylee about her magical journey.
How did you first think of dressing up for sick kids?
I always really wanted to work with children in a pediatric hospital but never really had the opportunity. I happened to go home for Christmas break when I was in college, and I was watching Frozen with my family and my mom pointed out: “You kind of look like Elsa a little bit.” And it was this “Ah-ha!” moment where I was like, “I have to do this.”
Have you always been into Disney princesses and make believe?
Yes! I’m pretty much like every other girl who, growing up, dressed up as a princess and was obsessed with the idea of love and fairytales. I’m automatically attracted to anything sparkly. So combining that with a love of service work culminated in this really awesome, unique idea.
Tell us about the experience of your very first hospital visit.
Initially, I thought this would be something I did for fun a couple times a month. But when I went to our first visit at Cohen’s Children’s Medical Center in Long Island, we were able to go bedside and visit all these families. And there was just this confirmation of what I wanted to do. It was where I was supposed to be at that moment. After that, I could not stop talking about what I was doing. It became a new love for me. When I went to class, I was thinking about doing it, and it became a really big part of my life.
Who were you dressed as that first time?
Elsa. I went with my roommate, Maggie McAndrews. She was dressed as Anna.
So cute! How did the kids react?
We get one of two reactions. Sometimes, they’re a little taken aback. They’re watching Frozen, and they’re like “How did you get off the TV screen?” Then at the same time, we get amazing reactions where a child will run across the room and fall into your arms because for a lot of these kids, they idolize these characters. To portray them is such an honor. That moment never gets old.
How did you get other college students involved?
News site Elite Daily as if they could ‘shadow’ us on a hospital visit, and we thought this could be a really great tool to get our name out here and reach other families. We never dreamed it would go as viral as it did. I think right now the Elite Daily video has over 70 million views. When that happened, we had so much outreach from many different people--so many college girls in particular saying, “I want to do this in my area.” I have so much love for this organization that I knew I wanted to share it with as many people as possible. That’s how we reach as many kids as we do right now.
Why do you think college students were so eager to join?
Something that’s really amazing about this age is they really are looking to give back, and they like to see that impact immediately. They don’t want to just fundraise and write a check. And it gives them a really unique experience where, not only are they getting the opportunity to help people, but they see what a lasting impact their time has on others.
Do you have any particular visits that were especially impactful for you?
We started doing this with pediatric hospitals, but we eventually had a mom in New Jersey reach out who said: “My six-year-old loves Disney princesses. She has battled cancer for the last two years. She’s finally in remission. Is there any way you can come for her birthday party?” At that point, we had never done an individual before. But we did. We went and brought 10 princesses, and it was so amazing. We still have contact with that family to this day. I still talk tothe mom like twice a week. It’s really amazing because we get to follow her story into remission and to her first day of the first grade and follow along with this journey. It’s really a privilege for us.
I understand the nonprofit is also developing its own characters. Tell us about that.
Yes! We want to make sure that we are showcasing characters that come from all different backgrounds and all sizes, colors, and interests. We asked different kids that we’ve worked with extensively to create their own characters that they wanted to see in the hospital. And we created five different characters now that are original to our organization that were created by children with cancer or their siblings. Our big goal is to write children’s books to go alongside them and give them out in hospitals.
Get involved! Learn how to volunteer, start a chapter or support the cause at AMomentofMagic.org.
What have you learned about pediatric cancer through your work?There are seven kids that die from cancer every day in the United States. That’s a lot. That’s something that we started witnessing firsthand. It was no longer something we had just heard of. For me, it was something we had to educate our volunteers on, about how common it is and how little funding it gets and trying to support the families that are going through that. Another thing is that sometimes the effects of chemotherapy and radiation are so long lasting that it surpasses the cancer. If a child survives cancer and is in remission, there are so many side effects that child will have to deal with for the rest of their life. That’s why we are really committed to serving children not only when they’re in treatment, but also throughout the course of their life. We’ll go back and visit as many times as a family will have us. |
|
What advice would you give to teens and young women looking to make a positive impact in their community?You have to believe in yourself. You’re going to be tested time and time again. You’re going to be exhausted. You’re going to want to give up. But if you believe in yourself, commit to yourself and show up for yourself, really amazing things can happen. You know, I was a six-year-old who wanted to be a princess when she grew up, and I do that now!
|
By the Numbers:
|
