State High Students Deliver a ‘Spark of Hope’ to Mount Nittany Medical Center

Mount Nittany Medical Center Behavioral Health recently partnered with a group of State College Area High School students to provide behavioral health bags for patients of the Behavioral Health Unit.

Behavioral health bags are self-care packages delivered in drawstring bags that include eye masks, journals, fidget toys, a snack, and a thoughtful letter.

“I believe these care packages will be well received by our patients,” said Tina Kephart, RN and manager of the Behavioral Health Unit at Mount Nittany Medical Center. “They will be bags of support and encouragement for discharged patients to take home with them to help with the post-hospital transition.”

A team of State College Area High School students led by Hamna Ahmad and Mike Guo developed the idea for the Spark of Hope project and presented it to Kephart. The intended impact of this project is to “leave patients with a spark of positivity,” wrote Ahmad and Guo in an email about the project.

The students brought together a team of students to write patient letters, fundraise, assemble, and deliver the bags to Mount Nittany Medical Center. The students plan to expand this project to other mental health programs in State College.

Mount Nittany Medical Center’s behavioral health services provide short-term, inpatient care for adults in acute behavioral health crises. For general questions about behavioral health services, call 814-234-6177.