The Liberty University Child Life Student Society recently completed a toy drive that brought joy and encouragement to pediatric patients at Carilion Children’s Hospital. This student-led initiative began in August and transformed into an extraordinary display of generosity and student leadership, culminating in the collection of over 450 items.
The Child Life Student Society (CLSS) is a club for aspiring child life specialists and is comprised of both Psychology and Family & Child Development majors led by faculty sponsor Marilyn Peyton and staff sponsor Erika Hartzell.
Since the inception of the club, students like senior Abigail Behrans, junior Raelyn Tang and senior Audrey Dix have been on the toy drive initiative’s leadership team.
The Child Life Student Society became an official club in the spring of 2025. The toy drive initiative was first proposed by junior Reese Scholl, the president of CLSS, who envisioned hosting a Halloween toy drive. According to Scholl, donations often dwindle to the lowest amount of the year in hospitals during the month of October.
“That is the biggest driving factor in why we did the Halloween drive,” Behrens said. “October is when the hospitals have little to no donations, which makes it harder to serve the children and make them as comfortable as can be. A lot of the heavier donations come during Christmas.”
Determined to create a meaningful and impactful project, Scholl reached out to Danielle Dix, certified child life specialist, to coordinate details and ensure the drive met the hospital’s needs. From there, the campaign expanded across Liberty’s campus, promoted through class announcements, club meetings and social media outreach.
“The drive was really focused on Liberty’s campus, but we had a lot of support from faculty and the (Psychology) Department, so that was incredible,” Behrens said. “We had over 440 toys donated.”
On Oct. 31, a group of 14 students traveled to Carilion to deliver the donations and volunteer alongside the hospital staff. The students divided into two teams of 14 people. Four joined Danielle Dix in the inpatient hospital, while 10 connected with certified Child Life Specialist Carrie Alice and Wali, the facility’s therapy dog, at the outpatient Tanglewood location.
The visit offered students the chance to distribute gifts and the opportunity to interact directly with pediatric patients.
“It was really neat to not only interact with them (the children), but to sit and do crafts and engage with them,” Behrens said. “We got to see all of the resources that (Carilion has) to offer.”
The professionals at Carilion welcomed the students warmly. Alice shared career advice, internship recommendations and future volunteer opportunities.
“The entire child life team were so encouraging and welcoming,” Behrens said. “We have plans again to go out in February. Another one of the holidays that is often overlooked is Valentine’s Day, as simple as it is.”
What began as a simple idea from one student grew into a campus-wide act of service that touched countless lives. The toy drive not only provided joy for hospitalized children, but also meaningful hands-on experience for future child life specialists.
“We’re grateful for the experience that we get and the connections and people we get to meet,” Behrens said. “But ultimately our heart behind this and the experience is because we want to stick to the role of serving the children. It all comes down to having a heart for the Lord and a heart for service.”
Long is a staff writer for the Liberty Champion.