By Danika Young | LTVN Reporter/Anchor
The student chapter of A Moment of Magic, an organization at Baylor, intends to bring children at local hospitals joy by dressing up as princesses.
Dennison sophomore and president of A Moment of Magic at Baylor Jacque Matthews started the chapter last year. There are currently 28 chapters in the U.S.
“It’s not just us at Baylor, but Baylor and TCU this last year were the first two chapters in Texas ever,” Matthews said. “In 2021, I got accepted to be a chapter president and establish a chapter at Baylor. And so then over this last year, I’ve recruited people, and people like Abby have joined me.”
Johns Creek, Ga., freshman and executive board member Abigail Dan said she joined because of her previous experience and love for service.
“I’ve always been really into Disney and theater and acting, so that definitely appealed there, but I’ve also had family friends who have gone through treatment for cancer,” Dan said. “It seemed to combine just a lot of my interest in what I wanted to do, and it also just seemed like a great opportunity to serve others and serve kids who really need it at that moment.”
The organization’s mission is to serve hospitalized kids who have been diagnosed with cancer, but it has expanded its service to the entire community.
“We predominantly serve underserved children and children that are medically vulnerable,” Matthews said. “That looks like going to pediatric hospitals and walking through different rooms or doing one-on-one visits with families in the community.”
Dan said as a new member, she loves engaging with the children and bringing them happiness dressed up as her Disney character: Silvermist.
Both Matthews and Dan said they receive joy when giving joy to the children they visit, which is why this organization is so special to them.
“We serve children,” Matthews said. “We just want to improve their mental health and their quality of life, no matter what type of experience they are having, and bring magic and play and happiness and smiles to their faces because it’s not only fun for us to play our characters and just be fun and silly, but also it’s really fun to spend that time with children.”
Matthews said she realizes the impact her character has on the children when she portrays Alice from “Alice in Wonderland.”
“As soon as a princess or a superhero or any character walks into that room, most of the time they’re glued to them and they’re in awe,” Matthews said. “You can do so much with that, whether that’s story time or play time or sports or music or however we want to frame it for that day.”
