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When the clock struck 8 p.m., volunteers grabbed torches and waved them above their heads, the rays shining across the cool night sky and into the hospital windows.
Just 10 minutes later, the cheering crowd, still with their flashlights held high, was shouting “Sweet Dreams” in unison toward the children several floors above them in the hospital.
The Nightly Moonbeams for Sweet Dreams tradition is once again lighting up the night outside Corwell Health Children’s Hospital in suburban Royal Oak. detroit,
For 10 minutes each evening, volunteers standing outside the hospital shine torches toward the pediatric rooms above, sending a message of hope and happiness. The children return this feeling with their lights, which they shine downwards.
“Being stuck in the hospital and feeling like the world is moving on without you, feels a little isolating, feels a little lonely, feels like maybe you’re forgotten in the hustle and bustle of the holiday season,” said Amanda Lefkoff, child life specialist at Corwell.
Children in the hospital include 4-year-old Zoe Hostetter, who is undergoing chemotherapy treatment. On a recent night, he shined his flashlight toward well-wishers gathered below with his grandfather, Tim Schuele.
“It’s just a big group of people they don’t know, but they see the love being sent from the lights,” he said. “They are here alone or with close family and will remain so for several days.”
However, on these nights, the children are not alone.
Kevin Barringer was one of the lights shining on the windowsill one night last week. Barringer’s son, Connor, spent two months in the hospital in 2020 recovering from a spinal cord injury, and he was at the end of the light.
“It gets pretty bleak there for the kids and the parents, too,” Kevin Barringer said. “To let people down here know that there are people with them and to send all their light that way, it means a lot.”
Sitting in a darkened room, Stephanie McMillan held her 3-month-old daughter Wren in one hand and held a flashlight in the other, shining a beam in the direction of those gathered below.
“This helps people here not feel alone and allows community members to be a part of bringing Christmas cheer to the people who live here,” McMillan said.
The hospital also hosts holiday parties, blanket making and story time programs for families. Also, a volunteer dresses like Santa and visit patients in their rooms and at parties.
Corwell has been overseeing the Moonbeams event since 2017. This year’s edition began on December 9 and will run hanukkah And every night until two days before Christmas.
Lisa Muma, a registered nurse and one of the event’s organizers, said participants this year include high school students, scout troops and groups of classmates. Sports teams often join in, including youth hockey teams, who are seen with lights stuck to their sticks.
Depending on the day of the week and the season, anywhere from dozens to hundreds of people gather at night.
“We really wanted to come up with a way where we could remind families and children and patients in the hospital that we’re still thinking about them, that we’re here for them, that we’re standing with them,” Lefkoff said. In turn, the pediatric section of the hospital feels a bit vegasWhere “day and night mingle together.”
But the Moonbeams program gives children something to look forward to during a difficult time for many families.
“It’s a great way…to really give them a lot of love when they’re going through a tough time,” she said.
