Food puns, art supplies and snacks make their way around a room filled with friendly conversation and music as USC students carefully hand-craft letters full of jokes and positive affirmations to send out to children in the hospital.
Originally founded in Minnesota, Letters of Love aims to spread cheer to patients in children's hospitals by sending them cards and notes of encouragement, said the website.
Campbell Ryall is the USC chapter president and a third-year accounting and international business student. She has been involved in the organization since high school, as it began near her school in Minnesota. Ryall currently serves as an executive volunteer for the organization.
Ryall said continuing her work with Letters of Love at USC has been a rewarding aspect of being president.
“Since Minnesota is so far away, it’s just kind of bringing a little bit of home here and being able to share that with a bunch of my friends here and people I've never met," Ryall said. "It’s kind of just sharing what was really important to me in high school with a brand new group of people.”
The club was founded by Grace Berbig, whose mother was diagnosed with cancer. Berbig, along with her sisters, would send letters of encouragement to her mother up until her passing.
Berbig began Letters of Love in September 2018 in her third year of high school. Her goal was to provide emotional support to kids fighting serious illnesses, just as she did for mother.
The letters typically contain jokes and affirmations, rather than sentiments of "get well soon," as most of the children are in long-term hospice care, Ryall said.
“What I typically do is a pun,” vice president and third-year public health student Izzy Ramage said.. “So it'll be like, 'I love you from my head to my toes,' and draw tomatoes ... I usually write a variety of different affirmations like, 'You are a good friend,' 'You are so loved,' 'You're kind,' stuff like that.”
Ramage said she appreciates the welcoming environment of the club and the way that members interact with each other to form a community. Ramage also enjoys working with the community to make a difference in the lives of children battling serious illnesses.
“Whenever you come in, we're always playing music that's feel good music. You can hear different conversations from around the room of people meeting each other, showing each other their cards," Ramage said. "And it's really sweet to watch all of it and watch people be able to make new friends while also contributing to such a great cause that's going to have real impacts on children's lives.”
Club secretary and fourth-year marketing student Reese Herold said she enjoys connecting and building bonds with club members, and the campus community at large, by partnering with student organizations on campus.
"It's a fun way to kind of get our name out there, and it also helps us spread our connections and make our impacts even greater," Herold said.
Letters of Love has previously partnered with Greek organizations and honors societies such as Kappa Kappa Gamma, Chi Omega, Zeta Tau Alpha and Tri Beta.
"We really try to reach different groups on campus," Ramage said. "To not only make it something that supports a good cause, but also unite people that might not have otherwise met, from different sororities or different clubs on campus."
USC Letters of Love posts announcements and the locations for monthly meetings on their Instagram page.