By Kayleigh Johnson ‘22, staff writer
Digital communications club DigiVal is making onesies for babies in UPMC Pinnacle hospital’s Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU).
There are two onesie designs, one for babies still receiving care in the NICU and one for babies graduating from the unit.
Club president Kayla Shuman and member Sofia Pascuzzo created sample designs for the onesies. The club will then assist in printing the designs on the vinyl cutter and rendering the designs onto the onesies with the heat press. Once finished, the onesies will be delivered to the hospital.
The project is a great chance for LVC students to give back to their community. It also provides the opportunity for students interested in graphic design to try their hand at creating designs of their own.
“Designing for good is something we often focus on as digital communications students at LVC,” Shuman said. “It is something that I am super passionate about. Being able to give back to the community in this way is a true honor.”
The idea for this venture came from DigiVal member Alyssa Matheus, who did a similar project in high school. She worked with Women and Babies Hospital in Lancaster to make 300 onesies for her senior project.
Shuman and digital communications department head Dr. Jeff Ritchie were instantly taken with the idea.
“While employed as a student worker for the design, media and technology department here at LVC, I suggested to Dr. Ritchie that the digital communications lounge should have a heat press to go along with the vinyl cutter so we could do a project like the one I did in high school,” Matheus, a sophomore digital communications major, said. “He loved the idea of making onesies because he also had a connection to the NICU, so he suggested starting this project up again here with DigiVal for the UPMC Pinnacle NICU.”
There is still a lot of work to be done on this project. Anyone interested in getting involved is welcome to help out. Students do not have to be a digital communications major in order to join DigiVal. Interested students should email club president Kayla Shuman at ks022@lvc.edu for more information.