By Emily Drooby
Once a month Sebastian Leipold puts a smile on hospital patients faces by gifting them Venus flytraps.
“I feel good because I am making smiles on the patients faces,” said Sebastian.
It’s a gesture born from love and loss.
Last September, Sebastian’s grandmother was a patient at Calvary Hospital.
He noticed she was sleeping with her mouth open. Terrified she would swallow a bug he thought of a solution, a Venus flytrap. He brought one to the hospital.
The gesture spread and others began asking for the plants.
Sebastian’s mother Malissa said, “They actually didn’t give her too long to live, about 72 hours, but she wound up here for two weeks It was just amazing how it evolved into kind of a mission.”
A mission Sebastian and his brother Lukas continued after their grandmothers passing.
Lyn Scheuring dedicated her life to helping others. She founded Lamp Catholic Ministries in the Bronx along with her husband, helping the poorest of the poor.
She instilled that Catholic teaching of loving thy neighbor in her grandchildren and now they’re carrying on her legacy.
The brothers have handed out about 150 plants so far, paying for them through donations collected through their gofundme page. It’s a child’s way to bring smiles to the dying, and through fundraisers like a recent one at Stop and Shop.
“I get to see other people have joy and to see that there are good people who care for them,” said Lukas.