Sarah Bailey, Associate Artistic Director at Rubber City Shakespeare Co., received a grant to support “Imagine That,” a theater workshop for children in the pediatric oncology unit at Akron Children’s Hospital.

Emily’s grant will be used to continue development of Sarah’s interactive theater and movement-based program for young patients, their caregivers and families. This year Sarah will add a therapeutic movement and dance piece to each session and an emphasis on classical literature through dramatic games.

The workshops, offered through the Emily Cooper Welty Expressive Arts Therapy Center, are a form healing through games, movement and both scripted and improvisational work. The children become superheroes, travel in time machines and visit with Sarah’s “team of princesses.”

Sarah reported in the spring that a little boy who was hospitalized for three months came to all the workshops: “At first, he was unable to move out of his wagon, but this week, he walked down all by himself. . . He’s had a rough go of it, but for 45 minutes, he was just a kid traveling through time.” We believe that Emily would be doing this work if she could, and we’re grateful that Sarah is so committed to it.