Project Proposal:

Handmade Hope

Madelin Agustin & Cerena Arocha

Maryknoll English 11
A Non-Profit for Hospitalized Children
 History & Project Overview
According to a classic Japanese legend, folding a thousand
paper cranes brings happiness and great luck. The gods
may grant the individual a wish in various versions of the
narrative. In Japan, the crane is considered a bird of
happiness, as well as a sign of good fortune and longevity.
It may live for a thousand years, and each crane in the
senbazuru (1000 cranes) represents a year of happiness.
As a result, giving a person a thousand cranes shows
them how much they are loved.
For our solutionary project, called Handmade Home, we
believe that by providing this gift, the receiver will feel
loved and acknowledged. There are several charities that
raise funds, but this is not always sufficient. We must
consider a person's condition as its whole. Humans need
a sense of belonging and connection. However, at times in
our lives, this may be challenging. We hope that anytime
the receiver sees this present, he or she will remember
that there is someone out there who cares. We hope that
the receiver will experience a sense of belonging to the
community. As for the volunteers, each one is working
together to attain this aim. Each volunteer is significant,
whether they work alone or in groups with their friends
and family. We hope the volunteers have a good time
during the process!
 Statement of Need
The issue that we are addressing is the negative effect
that hospitalization has on children. When placed in
hospitals for long durations of time, this can often lead to
developing feelings that are caused by being alone and
intimidated. This issue of isolation is especially prevalent
throughout this COVID-19 pandemic. Such environments
and internal feelings can lead to severe anxiety and
depression. Those who are interested in helping out our
organization, they may do so by donating origami paper
or already-made origami cranes they have made
themselves. There are many others who are working in
this field as counselors or therapists that can help ease
people in these conditions. These may be helpful
resources that others can reach out to. However, many
aren’t comfortable with discussing and expressing how
they feel to other people so with our project, we hope
that this can be another alternative that will also be of
help to them.
 Project Activity & Methodology
As partners, we believe that taking the time to address
the issue of created anxiety and depression during a
child’s isolation in a hospital will let them know that there
are people outside of their world who care about them.
We also believe that in fulfilling 1000 crane goal, the
children will be able 1) feel a sense of happiness and
community. Specific activities that are involved include
origami crane-making sessions for those who would like
to help our cause, volunteering at a children’s hospital,
and raising money for both our budget and the Children’s
Miracle Network. Below are our monthly goals!

- Contact hospitals that are willing to receive origami crane donations as well
as volunteer work with the children (teach them how to make paper cranes)
- Hold our first origami care making session for those who may want to help
- Make 1,000 cranes and donate those to a children’s hospital

- Hold our second and third origami crane-making sessions.

- Collect donations at the end of those months.
- Possibly do volunteer work with a different children’s hospitals (two
separate occasions)

- Hold our fourth origami crane-making session.

- Collect donations at the end of the month.
- Check our GoFundMe Page and send all leftover proceeds from our
budget to the Children’s Miracle Network
 Evaluation
The quantitative goal for our project is to make and
collect at least 8,000 origami cranes by the end of May. In
order to accomplish this goal, we will follow through with
our monthly objectives and provide service opportunities
for others to help fulfill them. Our qualitative work would
be comprised of doing a deep dive into research that
shows what the impact of hospitalization does to a child.
We could also interview nurses and doctors on this issue
and ask for advice that may help us ensure the best
quality donations and services to the hospitalized
children.
Dissemination
To get the word out about our work, our plan is to create
a website and Instagram page designated for more
information on Handmade Hope. Our Instagram page will
also be used to help spread and raise awareness of the
issue at hand, as well as be a place to track our goals. We
will also be holding origami-making sessions in
partnership with our school’s Key Club. It will be a service
event where the members of the school’s Key Club and
others who may want to join help us create the origami
cranes. To promote our project, we will kindly ask if our
local churches are willing to let us hang fliers and leave
boxes there. Reaching out to our extended families for
help in promotion and donations may also be helpful.
 Budget & Funding

As of right now, we are still looking for cheaper options

for origami paper than the one that we found. Origami
paper is very necessary for our project since it is the main
item in creating our “Handmade Hope.” We will be
receiving donations for this material and if the budget
becomes an issue, we will resort to using printers,
constructions, or cardstock paper (, of which are readily
available to us,) that we may need to manipulate first. The
boxes are designated as something to carry the origami
cranes in and are supplies that were currently available to
use. For the venue, it will allow us to open an origami-
making event where anyone may come and help reach
and surpass our monthly donation goals. Our original
thought was to approach Maryknoll High School first to
see if they would allow us to have one with the students.
This may be an issue considering the extra precautions
that need to be taken during this time. To help fund our
project, a GoFundMe will be created!