Four St. Thomas sophomores are giving hope to hospitalized children as part of a business venture started in their entrepreneurship 200 class.

Kyle Andrews, Madison Bosshart, Bobby Mason and Tyrel Bleifus created Holding HOPE for their class lemonade stand project. The company aims to provide children in hospitals with a fashionable drawstring bag to carry their various medical instruments, such as heart monitors and breathing tubes, instead of the bags provided by the hospital.

The group has partnered with the Mayo Clinic to distribute its bags.

“We are set to give bags quarterly, which we will do as a team,” Bosshart said. “We are highly involved with this cause, and that’s the main reason we started this; it’s all for the kids.”

The team will sell the bags at events throughout the academic year to raise money and supply young patients with their own bag. Holding HOPE’s first event is set for Friday on the Peace Plaza at the Mayo Clinic in downtown Rochester, Minn., where the group will have a table set up selling bags to raise money and spread the word.

The team hopes each patient who wants a bag to carry their equipment will be able to get one at no charge.

“We want to create an escape for these kids so they might have some solace and pride in a place they aren’t allowed to leave,” Andrews said. “Just give them the feeling of a regular kid.”

Mason, who spent an extended period of time in the Mayo Clinic with a rare stomach disorder, thought of the idea.

“When I was at (Mayo Clinic), I couldn’t leave for almost two years. Being in a hospital for that long, you see how much normalcy is taken away, and Holding HOPE is geared to reinstitute some normalcy and enjoyment in these kids’ lives,” Mason said.

Bleifus, the group’s marketing director, said the team is negotiating with several national corporations to donate gifts for the kids’ bags.

“We are talking with some different companies in the area who would donate a variety of gifts that we could put into the bags,” Bleifus said. “This would be an amazing way that we could get even more bags out and give the kids something to play with at the same time.”

The Holding HOPE team is planning on coordinating four events with Mayo Clinic throughout the year. The hospital will promote the free bags and give the team a place to orchestrate its giving.

“The hospital will set up the event, and then we will have the kids come down and receive their bag. Then we will play with them, and let them explore their new gifts,” Andrews said.

Although the project was created for a class, Bleifus said the team is inspired to do more.

“This isn’t something we are doing just for the class project—we are doing this to effect change and better the world and to leave our handprint of good,” Bleifus said.

Luke Moe can be reached at moe95234@stthomas.edu.