At Project Sunshine, our volunteers are the heart of everything we do. Their energy, compassion, and commitment bring joy and healing play to children facing medical challenges across the country. In this special spotlight, we’re amplifying the voices of volunteering—the firsthand stories of individuals who give their time to support pediatric patients, and in doing so, discover unexpected growth within themselves. Emily, an Occupational Therapy student at Duke University School of Medicine, took a deeper dive into this topic as part of her capstone project, exploring how volunteering enhances both personal and professional development.
As part of her project, she interviewed three volunteers to learn about their personal experiences about how volunteering not only impacts the patients they serve but also contributes to the growth and well-being of the volunteers themselves. Read more about each volunteer’s experience in the interviews she conducted:
Vivian, the Houston Community Chapter Leader and has been volunteering with Project Sunshine for four years, including helping establish the UT Austin chapter, shared how the experience has shaped her personally and professionally. She has participated in Here to Play, Teleplay, and Kits for Play, emphasizing the therapeutic value of play in helping children express themselves, develop social skills, and find joy.
Vivian reflected on working with diverse pediatric patients, including navigating nonverbal interactions through play and collaborating with child life specialists to create safe, supportive spaces. Through volunteering, she has gained greater empathy, adaptability, and a deeper appreciation for life, inspired by the resilience of the patients she’s seen. Her time with Project Sunshine has also reinforced her passion for pediatrics and sparked an interest in public health.
Play is an opportunity for kids as well as volunteers, to be able to express these emotions and what we're thinking outside of words. Whenever we're playing and we're using crafts or coloring, we little babies all the way up to like to teenagers. But not all of them speak the same language or have the same capacity to communicate verbally, so play helps to communicate beyond that, and is a way to have fun and express how we feel.”
As she prepares to start medical school in July, Vivian recommends Project Sunshine to others, valuing both the meaningful impact on children and the connection with fellow volunteers.
I've met a lot of people who are so passionate, and I've learned so much from them. We hang out and it's just such a joy being able to be around people who love helping others and love helping pediatric patients as much as I do.”
Stephanie has been volunteering with Project Sunshine for a year, mainly through the Here to Play program. For her, it’s been a therapeutic experience—both personally and professionally. She loves the sense of community and how play creates a fun, pressure-free space for kids. Volunteering has even helped shape her career path, inspiring her to pursue speech pathology in a hospital setting. She also enjoys how uplifting it is to be around supportive people and how each session leaves her feeling better.
Volunteering is therapeutic. It's multi-beneficial for the patients and volunteers. We’re there having a good time just playing and I love it. I always leave feeling better.”
Taisha has been volunteering with Project Sunshine since March 2022, participating in Teleplay, Kits for Play, and Here to Play. Taisha chose to volunteer with Project Sunshine after encountering a welcoming atmosphere at a volunteer fair, where she also felt a sense of connection with other pre-med students.
In my chapter, we try to have a little community with the volunteers. We try to meet weekly for general meetings and then also meet socially once a month. We also just like spending time together and have become friends.”
Taisha’s enjoyed witnessing children's excitement when she and other volunteers visit the hospital and engage in arts and crafts with them. She finds play especially joyful in a hospital setting, where it offers children a sense of normalcy. Volunteering has helped Taisha develop her communication skills, particularly in overcoming her shyness and managing interacting with diverse personalities. She’s also noticed the positive impact on her own well-being—staying active, feeling less stressed, and fostering stronger relationships.
Her experience with Project Sunshine has deepened her passion for volunteering and socializing, while also motivating her in her pre-med studies, reminding her of the impact she hopes to make in healthcare.
In conducting these interviews, Emily found that volunteers described their experience with Project Sunshine as therapeutic, particularly the opportunity to play alongside children. Overall, volunteers shared how they felt less stressed after their sessions, noting the positive impact on their social health and the sense of belonging they gained from being part of a larger community. We are deeply grateful for the dedication and hard work of our volunteers and their passion for bringing healing play to pediatric patients.
