- Volunteers with the League of Enchantment dress as fictional characters to visit children staying at hospitals
- The group started with six members and has grown to nearly 200 since its inception in 2017
- Video shows four group members visiting children at UM-Sparrow Hospital in Lansing in April
Their mission is to turn kid's frowns upside down.
A group of volunteers visiting hospitals has grown into a regional powerhouse
The are the League of Enchantment.
"When they're laying on the bed and we show up and their faces just light up," says Katie Smith, the leagues vice president of finance and fundraising.
On a partly cloudy Tuesday in April, Smith dressed as one of her signature characters: Wonder Woman.
She and four others, including her husband Shamus Smith— who serves as the group's assistant regional director— took on the roles of Wonder Woman, Batman, Supergirl and Ariel from The Little Mermaid.
This 'Fantastic Four' went door to door, greeting children staying for various reasons. No room was skipped. They returned to any room where the child was unavailable at the time or if a child got scared.
In one instance, a young girl got scared of Smith dressed as Batman. About an hour later, Smith returned to the girl, now smiling, and exchanged a fist bump separated by sliver of glass.
Kids are the league's call of duty.
"We work with Make-A-Wish, American Cancer Society, just to bring hope and smiles to kids faces at their worst times" Katie Smith said.
WATCH: LEAGUE OF ENCHANTMENT AWARDED 3-DEGREE GUARANTEE CHECK
The group visited a total of 30 kids at University of Michigan Health Sparrow in Lansing. It's a hospital that Smith says is sort of a training ground for new volunteers.
You could say it's the group's 'Fortress of Solitude.' Though for Smith it's also a place that's personal.
"My youngest was here for two weeks so to be able to walk through that room that she was in... and then be here to bring smiles to kids faces is absolutely amazing," Smith said.
The group began with just six members in 2017. It's now grown to nearly 200 group members, all volunteers, all of them using their own money to fund their trips and their costumes.
The group visits nine hospitals in Michigan and Chicago. Smith says generating memories for children at a place they'd like to forget make their efforts special and can sometimes make a difference on how patients can open up to their doctors.
"Sometimes that's what they need to be able to get better, to be able relax enough to tell the doctor what's going on," Smith said.
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