Sargent Student’s Nonprofit Raises Money to Support Child Life and Wellness Programs
(12/1/2020, BU Today)
“Lena Papadakis knows far too well how it feels to be a sick kid stuck in a hospital. As a triplet born at 32 weeks at Massachusetts General Hospital, Papadakis was the tiniest of the sisters, weighing in at just over two pounds. But unlike them, she spent years in and out of the hospital, suffering from issues such as chronic pneumonia, a common ailment of babies born with undeveloped lungs.
Now a healthy 21-year-old, Papadakis (Sargent’21) is a human physiology major with hopes of one day working in pediatric surgery. She is also the founder of Premie to Pre-Med, a nonprofit dedicated to raising money to support child life and wellness programs at local hospitals. Launched in October, the group has raised more than $5,700 to date for Mass General’s John Hancock Child Life and Wellness Program, with a goal of raising $10,000 by May 2021.”