Celebrating Three Years of Bottles of Smiles

On Nov. 20, Emery students Ilana Vines and Gavin Roth held a picnic carnival to celebrate the three-year anniversary of their charity, Bottles of Smiles. The mission of Bottles of Smiles is to put smiles on underprivileged and hospitalized kids’ faces.

Each bottle – created by students - is filled with some toys, crayons, an activity sheet and a small note from whoever put the bottle together. We have had multiple projects at school to create bottles to be delivered to a nearby hospital or the Ronald McDonald House, but there hasn’t been a big fundraiser until this year. The carnival included food trucks such as Holmes Steak House, Kurbside Eatz, and Steel City Pops. Many Emery students were in attendance to support their classmates and have fun!

Junior Eve Baliff says, “The Bottles of Smiles carnival was so much fun and it was a great experience volunteering to put smiles on kids' faces!”

There was a bouncy house, magician and sand art available for kids of all ages to interact and have a good time. Along with the students that came to support, there were also parents and other members of the community that came. Overall, the carnival had more than 100 people at its peak. All of us at Emery are so excited to be part of our peers’ successful movement, and hope to have another carnival next year! 

Read Ilana Vines' Buzz Kidz story about creating Bottles of Smiles.