ROYAL OAK, MICHIGAN — Volunteers holding flashlights waved high above their heads as the clock hit 8 p.m., shining bright beams across the cold night sky — and into the hospital windows.
Exactly 10 minutes later, the excited crowd, still holding their flashlights aloft, was shouting in unison “Sweet dreams” toward the children in the hospital several floors above them.
The Moonbeams for Sweet Dreams night tradition is lighting up the night outside once again Corwell Health Children’s Hospital in Royal Oak on the outskirts of Detroit.
For 10 minutes each evening, volunteers standing outside the hospital shine flashlights toward the children’s rooms above, delivering a message of hope and joy. Children return the feelings with their own lights, which they shine on those below.
“Being stuck in the hospital and feeling like the world is moving on without you out there, you feel a little isolated, a little lonely, and you feel like you’re forgotten in the hustle and bustle of the holiday season,” said Amanda Levkoff, a child life specialist at Corewell.
Among the children in the hospital is 4-year-old Zoe Hostetter, who is undergoing chemotherapy. On a recent night, she shined her flashlight at well-wishers gathered below with her grandfather, Tim Schule, by her side.
“It’s just a big group of people they don’t know, but they see the love that the lights are sending,” he said. “They’re here alone or just with close family, and that’s it for a few days.”
But on these nights, the children are not alone.
Kevin Barringer was among those lights shining toward the windows one night last week. Barringer’s son, Connor, spent two months in the hospital in 2020 recovering from a spinal injury, and they were on the receiving end of the spotlight.
“It gets very dark for the kids and the parents as well,” Kevin Barringer said. “Having people here and letting them know there are people there with them and sending all their lights out like that, it means a lot.”
Stephanie McMillan, sitting in a dark room, holding her 3-month-old daughter, Wren, in one arm and a flashlight in the other, was shooting a beam toward those gathered below.
“It helps the people who are here not feel alone, and it helps the community members to be a part of bringing Christmas cheer to the people who are here,” McMillan said.
The hospital also hosts holiday parties, blanket making and storytime events for families. In addition, a volunteer dresses up as Santa and visits patients in their rooms and at parties.
Corewell has been overseeing the Moonbeams event since 2017. This year’s edition began on December 9, and continues through Hanukkah and every night until two days before that. Christmas.
This year’s participants included groups of high school students, scout troops and sororities, said Lisa Mumma, a registered nurse and one of the event’s organizers. Sports teams often join in, including a youth hockey team that shows up with lights mounted on their sticks.
Anywhere dozens to hundreds of people gather at night, depending on the day of the week and the weather.
“We really wanted to come up with a way that we could remind the families and the children and the patients in the hospital that we are still thinking about them, that we are here for them, and that we stand with them,” Levkoff said. In contrast, the hospital’s pediatric ward is a bit like Las Vegas, where “days and nights blend together.”
But the Moonbeams event gives children something to look forward to during the difficult times many families are going through.
“This is a great way…to give them a lot of love when they’re going through a tough time,” she said.