West Virginia Wesleyan College’s Student Senate was recently named the winner of the Daniel Crockett Student Government Association Award by the WV Association of Student Personnel Administrators.

The award, which is given annually to student government associations that demonstrate servant leadership and problem-solving, was presented to the Senate for their recently launched Pediatric Care Packages Program, which benefits local and surrounding hospitals. Along with a certificate, the award includes a $500 grant to purchase more of these care packages.

Julia McCoy ’26, of Ravenswood, the current Student Senate Vice President, explains the motivation and purpose behind this program.

“I created this project after seeing a societal need through clinical sites and opportunities as a nursing student. The purpose of these packages is to provide comfort to children in the scary situations and atmosphere of the emergency department,” she said.

The packages include coloring pages, stuffed animals, stickers, a personalized drawstring bag and more. Currently, they have been delivered to three hospitals: St. Joseph’s Hospital of Buckhannon, Davis Medical Center in Elkins and Mon Health Stonewall Jackson Memorial Hospital in Weston.

Student Senate President Bray Boggs ’27, of Scott Depot, emphasizes the importance of philanthropy in addressing the many needs of the region.

“Our job as student leaders is not only to represent the interests of our fellow students, but it also involves becoming attuned to the issues facing local communities,” he said. “Through this initiative, we sought to embrace the longstanding Wesleyan tradition of ‘doing all the good you can’ and hope that these efforts will set a precedent for future stewardship projects.”

The Senate anticipates that the program will continue to expand and will look to collaborate with other schools to ensure young patients in all of West Virginia’s hospitals can be comforted by the care packages during stressful emergency room visits.