Students for Sunrise connect students with pediatric patients

When Carly Heinberg, ‘28, reluctantly left her job as a camp counselor at Sunrise Day Camp in Pearl River, New York, to return to life at Lehigh, she searched for a way to continue supporting the children she’d formed close connections with, despite the distance. 

Her solution was founding Students for Sunrise club at Lehigh, a club dedicated to bringing joy to children with cancer or other chronic illnesses and their families. Heinberg serves as the club’s founder and president.    

“There are some other clubs at other schools and so I wanted to bring one here,” she said.

The Sunrise Association operates 14 free, full-day summer camps worldwide for children with cancer or other chronic illnesses and their siblings. The organization reaches about 69,000 children annually. 

Heinberg said the club plans to host two or three events per semester to raise funds and create projects for Sunrise on Wheels in Philadelphia. Her goal is to bring those experiences to the Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia for children unable to attend camp because of medical treatments.

Heinberg began working at the camp in 2023 and has returned to New York each summer since. She said the club also plans to attend a Sunrise Day Camp-Greater Philadelphia reunion, where members will host activities and give children a day of fun during the school year.

Club vice president Caroline Faber, ‘28, said camp allows children to be their happiest selves. 

“They’re more just happy to be there and have fun with their friends,” she said.

Faber volunteered for the Sunrise Day Camp in Long Island for three summers as a head counselor and has connections to local hospitals through her mother, who works for Sunrise on Wheels. At camp, she taught younger children social skills and helped facilitate friendships. 

Faber said clubs don’t often see the impact of their efforts firsthand, but her experience allows her to show members how their fundraising and events directly affect children. 

The club’s first meeting featured a placemat-making event, during which students created designs on paper that were laminated and sent to the Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia. Faber said the club hopes to continue hosting hands-on activities that allow members to send physical items to the hospital while fundraising. 

Camilla Heckman, ‘29, said she learned about the club through a friend involved with Students for Sunrise at another school. She said she decorated her placemat with multicolored hearts to bring excitement to the child that receives it. 

She said she wants children to see an inspirational drawing while coloring or playing games in the hospital to help provide relief during their stay.

Heckman said the event motivated her to become more involved with the club. 

Social media chair Brooke Lieber, ‘29, said even simple activities, such as making cards, can bring happiness to the children.

“(Students) can really bring happiness to these children who are going through unimaginable hardships that no child should ever have to face,” Lieber said.

Lieber creates promotional content for meetings, events and fundraisers, manages the club’s social media platforms and oversees communications to keep group members informed and engaged.

Lieber has volunteered at Sunrise Day Camp in Long Island for the past two years and said serving as a counselor has been her most rewarding experience. She said the club’s projects remind the children in active treatment that they’re cared for and supported throughout the school year. 

Lieber also said while students try to inspire the children, they’re inspired in return. 

“What is so special to me is how you have a profound impact on the campers, but they have an even greater impact on you,” Lieber said.