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Casting Smiles was created by Leena Abuoqab to bring comfort, compassion, and confidence to children wearing medical casts. While casts are essential for physical healing, the emotional experience of wearing one, especially as a child, is often overlooked.
Leena founded Casting Smiles in early 2025 to transform casts into canvases through handmade stickers. Leena aims to help children feel proud, empowered, and seen during their healing journey.
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Empathy
Every design begins with understanding how it feels to be a child navigating injury or recovery.
Creativity
Art has the power to uplift, distract, and inspire, especially in clinical environments.
Inclusion
Every child deserves to feel represented, confident, and celebrated.
Community
Collaboration with healthcare providers and families allows us to reach children when it matters most.
Service
At its core, we are about giving back and supporting others through meaningful, hands-on impact.
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I'm Leena Abuoqab, the founder of Casting Smiles. My inspiration for this initiative comes directly from my own experiences growing up with scoliosis and spending frequent time in orthopedic offices as a patient.
During those years, I noticed something that stayed with me. My doctor, Dr. Kristin Cola, would create simple cast decorations for her patients using Coban and creativity. What seemed like a small gesture had a huge emotional impact; it turned something intimidating into something empowering.
I instantly connected with this idea. I began researching whether similar products existed online, and when my search confirmed the uniqueness of the concept, I knew instantly that this was something worth pursuing.
At my next appointment, I shared my idea with Dr. Cola and asked whether she would be interested if I created professional cast stickers for her patients and colleagues to use. She was thrilled by the idea, and that encouragement pushed me to move forward.
Over the following months, I immersed myself in the process: researching materials, sketching designs, testing durability, and refining every detail. By fall 2025, I officially began distributing Casting Smiles stickers to Pediatric Orthopedics of Southwest Florida. Seeing the joy they brought to patients reaffirmed my purpose and motivated me to keep growing.Today, I continue to lead Casting Smiles with the same creativity, empathy, and passion that inspired it. My goal is simple: to ensure that no child feels discouraged or invisible during the healing process, and that even in difficult moments, there is room for joy, expression, and confidence.