Tag: charity

UNICEF at Virginia Tech is Making a Difference in The New River Valley.

By Zain Omar

Members of UNICEF at Virginia Tech gathered on February 6th, 2025, to create activity kits for children who are currently receiving care at the LewisGale Hospital Montgomery.

How it started: Freshman Sarah Soltani founded UNICEF at Virginia Tech in the spring semester of 2025.

  • Soltani was a member of her high school’s own UNICEF and was searching for a similar club when she arrived in Blacksburg for her freshman year at Virginia Tech.
  • Soltani values the meaning and mission of UNICEF and wanted to re-establish the club on Virginia Tech’s campus to spread those values in the Blacksburg area. “I feel like the mission is so important, basically helping disadvantaged children, and I feel like it really serves Virginia Tech’s motto, Ut Prosim,” said Soltani.

Zoom in: UNICEF at Virginia Tech dedicated their first meeting to create activity kits for children who are receiving care at the LewisGale Hospital Montgomery.

  • Students gathered in Torgersen Hall to put together bags of art activities to give to the children in the hospital.
  • The activity bags contained coloring pages, markers and colored pencils, ribbons, stickers, and fidget trinkets.
  • “When they come in, either visiting because their sibling is in the hospital or they themselves in the hospital, it’s a way to kind of cheer them up and provide some entertainment in a place that can be very scary for a child,” said Soltani, when asked why she wanted to have this be the first project for UNICEF at Virginia Tech.

Zoom out: Art therapy is a highly recommended practice for children who are currently sick or hospitalized.

  • Having activities for children to engage in can help to take their mind off of their treatments and what they are currently going through.
  • According to The Crayon Initiative, an organization dedicated to bringing art therapy to pediatric patients, “a study from 2018 documented that letting pediatric patients engage in art activities decreased their stress levels. There was also a noticeable improvement in the children’s moods.”

The big picture: UNICEF at Virginia Tech is dedicated to bettering the lives of disadvantaged children living in the New River Valley.

  • UNICEF at Virginia Tech has a goal to provide resources to children in the New River Valley to help shape their futures and help them overcome disadvantages they may face.
  • When asked about her goals as the President of UNICEF at Virginia Tech, Soltani said “the goal of the club is basically to deliver the fundamental necessities that try to give every child an equitable chance in life. So, from safe water to nutrition to education to sanitation, we’re really trying to help children that are in communities that are a little bit neglected.”

What’s next: UNICEF at Virginia Tech is just starting on campus and they are looking forward to growing the club in the future.

  • The club plans to host meetings every two weeks where they will be working on various initiatives to benefit children in the New River Valley.
  • Soltani is hoping to get more students out to their meetings to help make a difference. “I think we had a really great turn out for our first meeting, so I just want to continue on growing,” said Soltani.
  • The operations director for UNICEF at Virginia Tech, Iman Monday, wants to get other clubs involved in their initiatives as well. “In the future, I really hope that we can collaborate with other clubs, even with sororities and fraternities, so we can get more recognition and more people to join the club,” said Monday.