The Care Kits Project

a student-led nonprofit

First aid should be a right, not a privilege.

We teach hands-on first aid in schools. Every student builds two care kits: one to keep, and one sent with a handwritten note to a child in an under-resourced country.

Sponsor a kit for $15Bring a workshop to your school
  • 60+ students trained
  • 120+ kits assembled
  • Registered 501(c)(3)
Students at Dicken Elementary laying out gloves, bandages and supplies to build their care kits
Two students in a school hallway, each holding up the care kit they built
Finished care kit cases packed in a box with two handwritten heart notes on top
THE CARE KITS PROJECT ✚ 501(c)(3) NONPROFIT ✚STUDENT-LEDMICHIGAN

how a workshop works

One afternoon. Two kits. A skill for life.

We bring every supply to the classroom. Students leave knowing what each one is for, with a kit of their own.

  1. Alexander and Lilyana teaching a room of students at Dicken Elementary

    learn

    Every supply, every skill

    Students learn what each of the eleven supplies does, when to reach for it, and why it matters.

  2. Students assembling care kits at cafeteria tables

    build

    Two kits, side by side

    Each student assembles a kit to keep, then builds a second one for a child in an under-resourced country.

  3. A student holding up his finished care kit and a handwritten heart-shaped note

    give

    A note that crosses borders

    The second kit travels with a handwritten heart note, a bridge between two communities.

why it matters

A critical gap in care.

Children in underserved communities are the most likely to be left without first aid training, and without the supplies to use it.

of injury-related deaths globally could be prevented with timely first aid.
54%
of people worldwide have received any form of first aid training.
<40%

what's inside

Eleven supplies, each one a lesson.

From thermometers to toothbrushes, every item in a kit is something students learn to use. And every kit carries a handwritten heart note to a child across the globe.

Fig. 1. The contents of a standard care kit, and the heart note that travels with it.
“I hope this makes your day brighter!! You are amazing”
From a student's heart note

in action

Schools and scout troops across Michigan.

See the full album
  • Three young scouts smiling in front of the Care Kits Project banner
  • Alexander and Lilyana posing with heart notes and stickers at Dicken Elementary
  • A table of students holding up their finished care kits
  • Finished care kit cases stacked in a box with two handwritten heart notes
  • Scouts assembling care kits, with gloves, bandages and kit cases spread across the table
  • Volunteers gathered around the Care Kits Project banner at Lindbergh Elementary
  • Two boys proudly holding up their finished care kits
  • An open care kit with bandages, gloves and a Care Kits Project sticker
  • Students writing heart notes at a workshop table
Lilyana and Alexander standing with the Care Kits Project banner at a school workshop

Founded in 2024by two University of Michigan students

our story

Built by two students, fueled by purpose.

Alexander Thweni and Lilyana Raishouni are friends and University of Michigan students who share a passion for health equity, and a belief that first aid should be a right, not a privilege.

  1. Michigan Medicine

    Working as researchers and volunteers, Alex and Lilyana saw how transformative something as simple as first aid can be.

  2. Medical mission trips

    Abroad, they learned that teaching first aid is one of the most powerful ways to improve health in any community.

  3. 2024

    The Care Kits Project begins, to equip young people with hands-on health education and the resources to put it into practice.

  4. Today

    Workshops at Dicken and Lindbergh Elementary and with scout troops across Michigan, and a second kit from every student sent abroad.

  • Alexander Thweni, Co-Founder

    Alexander Thweni

    Co-Founder

  • Lilyana Raishouni, Co-Founder

    Lilyana Raishouni

    Co-Founder

Lilyana & Alex

Read our story

one kit, one child

Fifteen dollars puts a care kit in a child's hands.

Every gift funds supplies, workshops and the second kit our students send abroad. We're a registered 501(c)(3) nonprofit, and 100% goes to the mission.

Sponsor a kitHost a workshop

CARE KIT No. 001

$15

sponsors one complete kit

  • Gloves
  • Bandages
  • Thermometer
  • Gauze & tape
  • Cold pack
  • A heart note