Photo provided Sarah Hibbits, the Orton-Gillingham specialist for the Indian Creek Local School District, delivers 200 chemo care bags full of items to support patients undergoing treatment at the Tony Teramana Cancer Center in Steubenville. Hibbits began it as a service-learning project while teaching at the former Wintersville Elementary School and has continued it today at Hills Elementary in Mingo Junction. The project holds a significant meaning since cancer has touched her life in multiple ways.

STEUBENVILLE — What began as a service-learning project has become a labor of love for Sarah Hibbits.

Hibbits, the Orton-Gillingham specialist for Indian Creek Local Schools, created chemo care bags in 2015 to help people undergoing chemotherapy and radiation treatment at the Tony Teramana Cancer Center. She began the project with her second-grade class at the former Wintersville Elementary School and continued it after moving to Hills Elementary in Mingo Junction, eventually expanding it to the entire building.

Each year, students, staff and community members have contributed items to fill brightly colored tote bags — from tissues and ChapStick to puzzles and snacks — with about 200 bags assembled annually for patients at the Steubenville facility.

During the project’s 10th anniversary last year, Hibbits invited students who had been involved since the beginning to help pack and deliver the bags, and a group of then-juniors at Indian Creek High School participated. This year, she packed bags with fourth-grade students and returned on May 28 with 200 additional bags, assisted by her young daughter, Lilly Driskell; friend Amy Bartley; and youth volunteers Dyvynne Stevenson, Matilda Bartley and Cadence Jameson.

For Hibbits, the project carries deep personal meaning. She said it began after her mother, who was undergoing cancer treatment at the same facility, expressed concern for other patients.

“Our project started 11 years ago when my mom was diagnosed with stage 4 metastatic cancer,” she recalled. “I came in with my mom one day during chemotherapy and she was telling me that she sees people come in by themselves. She was worried about who was taking care of them physically and emotionally, and it just kind of inspired me.”

At the time, Wintersville Elementary was conducting service-learning projects, and she began considering ideas for her class.

“It sparked a thought in my mind that we wanted to do something to take care of patients. And it’s just a very child-friendly,” she said. “When I got my new role three years ago, we opened it up to the entire school. Now the entire elementary school, staff, students, families, friends and parents all participate.”

A note is sent home in late winter informing families of the collection, along with a list of requested items. Donations include tissues, hand sanitizer, wet wipes, ChapStick, Biotene, TheraBreath, lotion, word search books, puzzles, snacks, gum, mints, socks, hats and scarves. Former cancer patients and anonymous donors have also contributed. Wintersville Elementary donated 100 bags during the first year of the project, followed by 150 the second year. Since then, about 200 bags have been provided annually, with additional bags given to school staff or students whose loved ones are receiving care.

Hibbits said the items are especially meaningful for patients dealing with treatment side effects.

“My mom was one of the patients who did not respond well to treatment, and a lot of these items are things that were specialized toward the people who have the worst symptoms. But these are also things that anybody can use, and all of the bags include a handmade card from the students to add a little bit of sunshine.”

The project became even more personal for Hibbits when she was diagnosed in 2024 with nodular sclerosis Hodgkin’s lymphoma and completed 12 rounds of chemotherapy over six months. She is now in remission and said the experience gave her a new perspective.

“It was a very, very challenging time for myself and my family and I learned so much during that time,” she said. “You learn the good in people and you also learn that sometimes there’s not so good in people. I think one of the biggest things is that we never know what somebody’s going through. If we have an opportunity to help somebody, we need to, and to let the patients know that you’re not going to be able to see the rainbow unless you go through the storm, and that things will get brighter at the end.”

Teramana officials said the bags continue to make a meaningful impact on patients.

“It’s a fantastic event that they’ve done for the cancer center for the past 11 years,” said patient navigator Marsha Lewis. “The patients love them so much because they are filled with a lot of necessities that they use, and they have sent them thank you cards. It’s greatly appreciated here.”