Service Spotlight: Sunshine Project

Welcome to another edition of #ServiceSpotlight with The Smile Project where we share incredible stories of people doing incredible things in their communities. This week, we are thrilled to share the story of Emily Hsia, Executive Director of Sunshine Project in Tustin, CA.

Let’s start in traditional Smile Project fashion. Give us a Happiness!

Emily: Happiness is giving back to my community and spreading sunshine.

Tell me about Sunshine Project.

Emily: Sunshine Project is a youth-led initiative supporting kids in psychiatric care who often feel invisible. We create care packages filled with comfort items (stuffed animals, journals, coloring books, stress tools, and more) to bring warmth into spaces that can feel cold and isolating. Our mission is to be light in moments of darkness. We work to support youth mental health by delivering care packages with compassion, reducing stigma through open conversations, and building community around showing up for one another. Every child deserves hope, dignity, and the reminder that the sun hasn’t forgotten them.

What is the driving force behind what you do?

Emily: Mental health is an issue that feels very personal to me because, like many young people, I’ve had my own struggles navigating stress, pressure, and emotional challenges while growing up. Even when things look fine on the outside, it can feel overwhelming internally, and it’s not always easy to ask for help or feel understood. I am passionate about supporting the wellbeing of youth and spreading awareness about mental health. Being involved with many organizations surrounding youth mental health, I have heard directly from peers who have gone through the inpatient psychiatric care system and they would describe it as clinical, isolating, and lonely. Hearing those accounts stirred something in me. I wanted to create something to help diminish those types of negative feelings for children already going through so much—which led me to create Sunshine Project!

What does service mean to you?

Emily: To me, service means making someone else’s day brighter, bit by bit. I love community service because I think volunteering is one of the best ways to improve your own mental health—you know you are doing something good in the world and that brings fulfillment. For Sunshine Project, local youth volunteers are the ones assembling the care packages by hand, which means that mental health is supported on all ends of the project: from the volunteers making the kits improving their wellbeing through service, to the actual recipients of the care gifts.

How can people get involved?

Emily: If you would like to support us, have any questions, or just want to reach out, please email at [email protected]. You can follow us along our journey to spreading sun and smiles, one wellness kit at a time, by following us on our Instagram page: https://www.instagram.com/sunshineprojectorg/

Anything else you’d like to add?

Emily: I’d love to share some quotes from the organizations receiving the kits! Honestly, since I am unable to personally deliver packages to the patients due to hospital policies, HIPAA regulations, etc., one of my personal favorite parts of doing this work is reading the anecdotes staff provide us through email. No matter what, they always bring a smile to my face, just imagining the youth in the facilities.

After delivering to Children’s Hospital of Orange County (CHOC), staff shared the kits were “an absolute hit,” with kids carrying the coloring books around the unit and using them during group sessions. They described how the items brought “comfort, joy, and a sense of normalcy in moments when it’s needed most,” and said the smiles on patients’ faces were “immeasurable.” At UCI Health, a manager wrote that one youth staying long-term “loved the stuffy and was already coloring.” She shared that the timing was especially meaningful, as their child life specialist was on leave, making these resources even more impactful.