Local highschooler is making a difference, one care package at time

Ella Pascual, a 16-year-old Sophomore at Greenbrier High School, is making a difference in our community, one care package at a time.

As a member of the State Superintendent Student Advisory Board, she was tasked with demonstrating leadership by managing a service project. She thought long and hard about what she wanted her program to focus on, and from her experiences came a comforting idea.

“Several family members and family friends of mine went through cancer at some point in their lives, and I have seen firsthand the struggles of the unknown that they must go through. This experience inspired my desire to make cancer patients’ days a little brighter,” said Pascual.

A combination of her school’s mascot, ‘the Wolfpack’ and the goal of creating care packages gave her the program name of ‘Pack for Comfort’. Her goal was to collect 50 blankets and 50 pairs of socks, 40 care packages, 20 activity books, and 50 letters of encouragement for cancer patients in our community.

After setting her goal, she met with Georgia Cancer Center Outreach Coordinator Maryclaire Regan to ensure she would be taking the appropriate steps to get the care packages in the hands of patients at the GCC.

“These items will make a physical difference to our patients, and the care that went into them will make an emotional one. Ella has put tremendous consideration into curating these packs, and I think our patients will be able to feel that,” said Regan.

With her goal and proper precautions set, Pascual got to work. She reached out to teachers at Parkway and Greenbrier Elementary, along with Greenbrier Middle and Highschool, to involve local students in writing letters of encouragement. She worked with her local FCA club at her school to run a donation drive for socks and blankets. To fundraise, Pascual had a Valentine’s candy sale in February that was a huge success, and reached out to her friends, classmates, and family, along with the Filipino American Community, for donations.

As she balanced schoolwork, club activities, and coaching a Heat volleyball league, Pascual and her mom spent their free time hunting for the best deals on additional items for the care kits, like coloring books and pencils, tissues, and word puzzle books, ensuring that they got quality items for each patient at the best price available.

Pascual was able to surpass her goal and collected 100 of each item thanks to her dedication and support from the community. She split her donations into two batches, delivering one to the GCC’s Outpatient Clinic on Laney Walker Blvd, while the second batch went to the GCC’s Downtown Clinic on St. Sebastion Way.

At both locations, Pascual had the opportunity to speak with staff and tell them about her project so that they could share with their patients. She was able to speak with patients directly at the Outpatient Clinic and gave out many of her kits to those who were receiving treatment.

“Just seeing one person smile and saying thank you, especially when they don’t know you, feels so nice, and then you become part of their journey,” said Pascual.

In addition to ‘Pack for Comfort’, Pascual also worked with the GCC’S Outreach team to host a presentation of the dangers of vaping to a local sixth grade class. Due to positive feedback, Regan has planned additional vaping presentations and exhibits and has invited Pascual to continue to join them.

“Ever since I was young, I aspired to be in the medical field and help people. Having this opportunity to not only educate those in my community, but provide them comfort and hope, means so much to me,” said Pascual.