St. Christopher’s Hospital for Children, Center for Children and Youth with Special Healthcare Needs
Title: St. Christopher’s Hospital 16th Annual Back-to-School Carnival
Student Interns:
Nali Moon
Drexel University College of Medicine
Arya Patel
Drexel University College of Medicine
Academic Preceptor:
Stacy Ellen, DO, FAAP
Drexel University College of Medicine, St. Christopher’s Hospital for Children
Community Preceptor:
Renee Turchi, MD, MPH, FAAP
Drexel University College of Medicine, St. Christopher’s Hospital for Children
Community Site:
The Center for Children and Youth with Special Healthcare Needs is located within St. Christopher’s Hospital for Children. It provides a “medical home”—complete, coordinated, family-centered care—for youth with medical complexity.
Team’s Experience:
The Bridging the Gaps interns worked with the team at the Center for Children and Youth with Special Healthcare Needs to plan the 16th Annual Back-to-School Carnival. Held each summer to provide children and youth in the Philadelphia area with backpacks filled with school supplies to help prepare them for the upcoming academic year, the carnival also connects families to relevant health resources, screenings, fun, and food. Since the event’s inception, 20,000 children and their families have attended, and the program has provided school supplies to more than 10,000 children. To prepare for the backpack giveaway and carnival, the interns assisted with fundraising, provided innovative ideas, identified and organized community resources and partners, planned games, and ordered supplies. The interns’ main project was coordinating with vendors and reaching out to community partner organizations to invite them to participate. The interns also met with various hospital departments, including the dental and trauma teams, to coordinate carnival activities, health screening educational initiatives, and oral health screenings. The interns were also instrumental in organizing and filling the backpacks for distribution.
Reflections
I have always enjoyed event planning, so being placed at a site that allowed me to blend creativity with interpersonal communication was deeply meaningful to me. Learning that the Back-to-School Carnival originally grew from the vision of a former medical student intern made the project even more special. Remembering the simple joy and excitement of the back-to-school season from their own childhood, they wanted to extend that same experience to children who might not otherwise have the chance. As a medical student, it is easy to get caught up in the demands of coursework and view the hospital through a purely clinical and professional lens. This experience served as a powerful reminder that there is life and community beyond our studies. Additionally, a single compassionate idea can spark a lasting movement that transforms care, brings immense joy, and builds meaningful trust within the community we serve. I truly appreciate seeing how a whole community can unite to bring such a joyous event to life. Watching individuals across so many roles, such as security personnel ensuring safety, clinic managers, volunteers, and marketing teams handling signage and branding, reinforces the power of cross-disciplinary collaboration. It created an environment where diverse perspectives came together; ideas could flow freely, and team members could bounce concepts off one another. Seeing the culmination of our team’s efforts behind the scenes has been immensely rewarding. I am so excited to watch all our hard work bring this carnival to life, and I am truly looking forward to connecting with the families and children who make this community so special.
Nali Moon
Participating in this program has been one of the most rewarding experiences I have had because it gave me a firsthand look at how much work goes into supporting a community. Before starting, I never really thought about everything that happens behind the scenes to make events and resources available for children and families. Through my time at St. Christopher’s, I learned that helping a community is about much more than providing services; it is about building connections and creating opportunities for people to feel supported. One of my favorite parts of this experience was seeing how passionate everyone was about making a difference. Whether we were reaching out to donors, planning activities, or solving last-minute problems, there was always a shared goal of helping families and giving children a positive experience. It was especially meaningful to know that something as simple as a carnival, craft activity, or community event could bring so much joy, while also connecting families to valuable resources. Seeing that impact firsthand made me appreciate the importance of community outreach even more.
Arya Patel
