Engineering students prepare the sweetest Valentine’s Day gifts

On January 24 and January 25, 21 female engineering students and professional engineering mentors volunteered with The Valentine Project, a non-profit organization that supports children whose lives are affected by illness. The volunteer-driven organization sends one-of-a-kind Valentine’s Day gift boxes filled with things like toys, candy, and stuffed animals to kids in Ohio and the greater San Francisco Bay area.   

The students and mentors are a part of UA's Women in Engineering program, a program devoted to increasing the numbers of women in the engineering field.  

All gifts were donated by members of Tau Beta Pi, the engineering honor society, as well as student members of the Society of Women Engineers, Women in Engineering students, Women in Engineering Alumnae, faculty and former faculty of The University of Akron. In addition to donating items, UA volunteers placed the toys in individual homemade pillowcases. They even created bags for the children's siblings. 

"Our students and mentors put together bags for 11 girls and boys,” says Heidi Cressman, Director of the Women in Engineering program. “We were honored to be a part of this opportunity and to give these children a little joy during this incredibly difficult time.”

Photo caption: Holding the one-of-a-kind pillowcases filled with the valentine gifts that are boxed and sent to each child are Heidi Cressman, Alissa Hovatter, Kristina Dyshko, Aliyah Badgette and Andrea Margida (whose son founded The Valentine Project).

This was the first, but hopefully not last time the Women in Engineering program will work with The Valentine Project. UA volunteers were able to provide 5-6 bags of additional donations – well beyond their original commitment to The Valentine Project.

"We were blown away at the generosity we received from the students, faulty, and engineering community,” says Cressman. “We hope to continue our partnership for many years to come.”

Special thanks goes to Drew Drumm, Michaela Dauterman, Amanda Jancewicz, Jillian Hillenski, Sara Toich, Megan Laws, Kristina Nguyen, Marisa Peterson, Stephen Pirosho, Gan-Bok Kwok, David Klett, Ellen Wise, Diane Burrowbridge, Mary Verstraete, Wade Nelson, Elisa Comis, Reya Gitiafroz, MaryAnne Hejne, Michelle Ayers, Andrea Zuccaro, Christine Jonke, Angelica Payne, Carly Feehan, Jamie Schlitt, Alex Stephens, Jillian Savage, Tracy Harris, Jane Smith, Taylor Brown-Smith, Shawnn Foster, Jordan Bryner, and Amanda Pavlicka for their donations and for helping to assemble the bags during mentoring night. 

Also, thanks to students Alissa Hovatter, Aliyah Badgette and Kristina Dyshko, who, with Heidi Cressman, also helped deliver the gift bags to The Valentine Project as well.

Thanks to our professional engineer mentors from industry who represented McMillan Jacobs, The City of Akron, Rockwell Inc, Nottingham Spirk, and Bridgestone Firestone as well as NE Ohio Girl Scouts for their generous donation.