Two-year-old Bay Area nonprofit The Crayon Initiative melts old crayons and recycles them into new ones to brighten up the days of sick children in the hospital.
"You can be anything you want to be with a box of crayons," founder Bryan Ware told NBC News.
The new crayons are donated to California hospitals such as UCSF Benioff Children's Hospital.
"It's a magical moment when children first see crayons in a hospital setting," said Michael Towne of UCSF Child Life Services. "It sends a powerful message."
According to The Mighty, The Crayon Initiative has donated 2,000 boxes of crayons to California hospitals since 2013 and will for the first time deliver to a New York hospital this year. Ware hopes that it'll be the first step towards making the mission nationwide.
