Student volunteer brings joy with wishing cranes

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High school volunteer, Madeline Grapilon, found a way to bring joy to patients during challenging times – through the gift of a wishing crane.

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Madeline (pictured far right) relies on the help of her fellow Wishing Crane Project club members to fold 250 cranes every four months.

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Each wishing crane has an encouraging, handwritten message for patients to read during their healing journey.

Wishing cranes have a history rich in meaning and tradition. They are a cherished symbol of Japanese culture, representing peace, hope and healing.

Thanks to Sharp Chula Vista Medical Center Auxiliary volunteer Madeline Grapilon, that spirit of goodwill thrives at Sharp Chula Vista, where it is shared with patients through beautifully crafted paper cranes.

Madeline, age 16, attends high school in Chula Vista, where she is a board member of her school’s The Wishing Crane Project (TWCP) chapter. The club consists of service-minded students like herself who are dedicated to spreading hope in the community through the art of origami.

As a regular volunteer at Sharp Chula Vista, Madeline saw an opportunity to merge her passion for service with her extracurricular activity — creating a heartfelt intersection between tradition, art and compassionate care.

“I would see patients and think about how I could do my part as a volunteer to help lift their spirits, especially for those with no sign of gifts, like flowers or balloons, or visitors in their rooms to bring them joy,” Madeline says. “It was hard for me to see that. That’s when I remembered that I am in this club at school whose whole purpose is to bring joy to others.”

It takes a team

Although Madeline is the liaison between her school club and the hospital, she’s quick to share that she doesn’t create these beautiful keepsakes alone. Every four months, she and her fellow TWCP club members come together to fold 250 paper cranes.

With colorful supplies spread across desks, they gather in a classroom on their high school campus, chatting and laughing as they work side by side. As one of the club’s board members puts it, there’s a special joy in creating something meaningful together and knowing it will brighten someone else’s day.

“The Wishing Crane Project is a place where creativity becomes something more — it turns into care, connection and purpose,” says Kimmy Ngo, a fellow board member of the school-based club. “It’s where students like me can take a simple hobby and use it to bring comfort to people who are going through some of the hardest moments in their lives.”

Before Madeline brings a batch of newly folded wishing cranes to the hospital to be hand-delivered to patients by her and fellow Auxiliary volunteers, she shares that the wishing cranes are incomplete until one final step is performed.

“There is beauty in the cranes themselves as they are all unique,” she says. “But we write short messages like, ‘We’re thinking of you’ to give them a human touch.”

Beauty in both giving and receiving

Madeline has been volunteering with the Sharp Chula Vista Auxiliary since March 2024, serving as an inpatient aide. It’s a role that connects her directly with patients receiving care.

Most days, Madeline visits the stroke unit, offering comfort and conversation to patients beginning their recovery. She fondly remembers the very first patient she gave a wishing crane to. It was a moment that left a lasting impression.

“I remember the first time I handed one out — I was a little nervous,” Madeline recalls. “I wasn’t sure how patients would respond.” She vividly recalls walking into a room where a patient sat quietly with a visitor. She handed the woman a crane bearing the message, “Your smile lights up the world.”

“The patient read the message out loud, and her face lit up with a smile, followed by a laugh,” Madeline says. “It was so heartwarming to see that the positive reaction we’ve been hoping for is actually coming true.”

What began as a single act of kindness has become a meaningful part of The Sharp Experience and a cherished tradition at Sharp Chula Vista — reminding patients that they are seen, valued and cared for.

“The wishing cranes are such a seemingly small gesture, but they do so much!” Madeline says.

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