The Princess Project creators visited Sacred Heart Academy on Friday to inspire students to dress as superheroes and princesses, and it's all for a good cause.
Service work is part of Sacred Heart's mission statement, so students are used to helping others. But one 2013 grad decided to take her college service project to another level, and came back to inspire the next generation.
Maggie McAndrew, along with a college friend, co-founded The Princess Project, which takes college students to volunteer at children's hospitals and schools dressed as popular princes, princesses and superheroes. The mission is "to re-deliver the magic of believing at a time when they need to 'just be a kid,' and remind them to be brave, strong, and fearless."
This year they are set to visit 5,000 kids, but the project is ever expanding.
So how was the project born? Maggie said her friend "texted me one day, right around Christmas, and was like 'What if we dressed up as princesses and go to hospitals and visit sick kids?'"
The duo started a GoFundMe page, and they're working hard to raise money to fund the growing organization. So far, the 18 "princesses" they've recruited have visited hospitals all around the Tri-State area, and they're looking to expand. The demand is there: 30 colleges are interested in starting a chapter of the service project.
At Sacred Heart, each student donated $2 to the cause.
"We love children. We love their imagination, their laughter, their honesty," Maggie said of her passion for the project.
To learn more, visit the project's website here.