In this episode the guest is Katie Smith, Vice President and one of the founding members of The League of Enchantment, a 501(c)(3) nonprofit that brings joy, hope, and inspiration to children and families through the magic of cosplay. The League partners with hospitals and community organizations to create powerful, uplifting moments for kids facing serious challenges—proving that a smile, a hug, or a visit from a hero can make a lasting impact. Katie joins us to share the story behind the League, the power of compassion in costume, and how anyone can become a real-life hero.

https://www.leagueofenchantment.org/

https://www.facebook.com/share/16qEBjgfMX/

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Conversations with Kate is like a conversation with your friend, hairstylist, or therapist, where we will talk about music, life stories, and everything in between, with interviews and guests sprinkled in. As an LCC student, it's an honor and I love bringing a fresh perspective to the podcast menu on LCC Connect. I am your host, Kate.

Let's get into this episode. All right, welcome in. I have a very special guest with me today, Ms. Katie Smith.

Do you prefer Smith, or would you like to go by Whitaker for Smith Smith. Okay. Just wanted to make sure. Can you tell me about the inspiration for your League of Enchantment?

Sure. So the League of Enchantment is a charity group that visits kids in hospitals.

And our inspiration is just to bring hope and smiles to kids in their darkest days. And not only is it to bring hope and smiles to. To the kids, but all of our members have a reason they're doing it. So for them, it's healing.

So a lot of it's a healing journey for them while helping kids heal too.

That's wonderful. What was the moment that you realized this idea could become something truly impactful?

So my husband, before I met him, he was Batman. He still is Batman. He's the person that really got this really going.

He invited me to do an event, and I met a little girl who was so excited to see me. She was jumping up and down. Her mom brought her over. I gave her this giant hug, and her mom pulled me aside later and was like, she loves you.

She loves Wonder Woman so much because she's bullied in school. She's bullied because she's got darker skin and she has short hair.

So I pulled the girl aside after that, and I talked about how I was bullied because of my height. Oh, my God. And was able to really connect with her. That was my moment, and every member has that moment, but that one was mine.

I love that. That's wonderful. Why superheroes?

Oh, because it connects with every child. Every child knows Spider Man, Batman, Wonder Woman.

Right, right.

Such a love.

What's the core mission of the League of Enchantment?

The core mission is to bring smiles and hope to kids faces.

Are there any other things that you do besides just go see kids in hospitals?

Yeah. So we do a lot of community events too. So we'll do anything that is based around children. Okay. Or children are going to be there.

So we do a lot of, like, make a wish. We do Ellie's race. We will also be at things like making strides against breast cancer because it's for that one.

It's not just the kids, but it's the women going through breast cancer that identify as Wonder Woman. To be then able to meet Wonder Woman or those other superheroes that they identify with to get them through their hardest times, that's awesome.

Can you share one memorable story or moment from one of your personal visits besides the one that you just shared with us that stuck with you to this day?

Oh, gosh. Yeah. It's a tough one, though. His name was Peyton.

Okay.

And we were invited to his house because he has dipg, which is cancer of the brainstem. And he was five years old, okay. And he loved Wonder Woman, Batman, and Superman. So we all came out.

Oh, my gosh.

And we brought him toys and Nerf guns and stuff. And he and I teamed up, and he decided he didn't like Superman anymore.

So he took my lasso, he wrapped him up, and then we took Nerf guns, and we were attacking him. And then two months later, we were invited back to visit him, and we saw a huge change in him.

He went from being able to run around to having to sit and being really tired because the cancer was progressing very fast. And then this was early November, and I knew he wasn't going to make it till Christmas, so I messaged his mom.

I'm like, can we bring him Christmas early? Yeah, please. So the week before Thanksgiving, I called the local police department. I said, hey, can you help us?

Cause he wanted to be a police officer, too. So the police officers knew him.

Yes, yes.

He's like, oh, I got you. Like, perfect. We did a huge call out to the league, and we had 35 members that came up from all over the state of Michigan to visit this little boy.

So we met up in a parking lot. We were meeting the police officer. I thought, like, maybe we'd have, like, a fire truck.

Yeah.

Pulled in. We had five fire trucks, two ladder trucks.

Oh, my gosh, I'm gonna cry.

Three EMTs.

Oh, my gosh.

And 12 police officer cars. Like, 12 cop cars. Oh, my gosh. Like, I just started bawling.

And so we get all of our princesses and superheroes loaded up in the fire trucks, and we drive across the highway, and we all unpile and we walk, like, Top Gun style to his house.

Oh, my gosh.

While singing Christmas carols, all of the sirens blasting.

Oh, my gosh.

And we brought his family Thanksgiving and Christmas that day. And two weeks later, he passed away. And then myself and Batman were invited to be Paul Barris in suit. Yeah.

Okay.

Yeah. And we are still friends with his family to this day because he has made a forever impact in our lives.

And his little sister was started battling some health issues. She'll recover, but still battling some.

So after she got out of the hospital this last last year, she and I did a Wonder Woman photo shoot where she was little Wonder Woman. Yes. And so precious just to be a little. Because he passed five years ago.

Wow.

Yeah.

Wow.

But we all know his name and we all, as we say, pay it forward for Peyton.

So I love that. Oh, my goodness. I'm, like, sitting here tearing up. It's. How wonderful. All right, we're gonna move to, like, the operations side of the business.

What's the process look like for preparing for a visit? From choosing costumes, choosing people, to all the way to coordinating with a hospital or a person, a place.

Sure. So when we want to get into a hospital, we have to reach out to them.

A lot of times we have to go through, like, volunteer services or with Sparrow, we're considered among their special guests. So if, like, a celebrity came in, we get handlers from the hospital that walk around with us.

But all of our members are background checked because we're not going to let anybody near a child without that. So everyone is background checked.

And then after they become a member, they have to do three events with a leader so the leader can watch them make sure they can actually handle a hospital visit.

Okay.

And we do have some members that just can't. And they know that.

Right.

And they're like, no, we want to do the outdoor events. Let's do the fun ones. Because hospital visits can be tough.

You do see kids sometimes on their last couple of weeks, or you see ones that are dealing with brain trauma and stuff. So we set up the events, and then once the member passes our training wheels program, then they can set up. Isn't that great?

Then they can sign up for themselves for those events. But then we do have a rigorous costuming guidelines because we wanna make sure that our suits, like, the kids are gonna look at it.

And I am Wonder Woman. He is Spider Man. And not go. My mom bought that from Walmart, too. We don't want those suits.

Exactly. Yes, yes, yes.

Yeah, yeah. And then, yeah, when we go to a hospital visit, we bring care packages. And each care package is specifically set for whatever that kid likes.

So if the nurse we're with is like, oh, my gosh, really likes frozen. I already have a frozen bag set aside with a doll of either Anna or Elsa, coloring books, stickers, puzzles, Activities all themed around that one.

I think we have, like 15 different varieties of those.

That's pretty cool. That's pretty cool. What are some of the biggest challenges the organization has faced and how have you overcome them?

Oh, at the very beginning, it was getting members.

Okay.

Just trying to start to get members because we are completely volunteer based.

Yes.

So every member is donating their time. They're don money to their suits, because. Suits. I mean, some of our Batman suits cost three, $4,000. They're. Yeah.

Because they're made out of, like, real Kevlar. You want the kid to come up and hit them and go, oh, you're really Batman?

Yes. Oh, I love that, though.

So just getting members at the very beginning, it's kind of like with anything, you.

You get five members to get one or two that are like, oh, I really, really want to do this, and can actually give up their time because it is a lot, lot. But we have built an amazing team because we've been around eight years now.

And to be able to see the growth that we have and just the members and just step up.

Right.

I think that was the biggest thing is really just getting the members that can come and then figuring out how many events we can actually take versus all the ones we want to take. Because we can't take everything.

Right. Exactly. Exactly. Do you have a favorite that you do regularly?

Yes, I love making strides against breast cancer because I have a full pink breast cancer Wonder Woman outfit.

Yes. It's beautiful.

So that one. But then my favorite one that we actually. It's not kid based, but it hit close to home. It's Tunnels to towers.

What's that?

It is a foundation that raises money to pay off mortgages of fallen and hurt firefighters and police officers. But it originally started because of 9 11. Okay. And they do a 5K in jack and then there's a 5K. It's based off of one specific firefighter that was.

Had his day off, was going out of the city to go golfing. First plane hit, he stopped. His car was going to turn around. Bridges or the tunnels were already closed, so he had his gear in his car.

He threw all of his gear on 70 pounds of gear and ran to ground zero and ended up giving his life to help save people. But his family picked it up. And the 5K that's in New York starts at where he started and runs all the way to ground zero.

Oh, my gosh.

And I cry like the entire 5K. But Batman, my husband and I have been able to do that for the last three years. And I will always go to do that one because it's amazing.

Absolutely incredible. So that's my personal favorite. Yeah.

How has the community responded to the League of Enchantment?

Oh, my gosh. It has been. It's been crazy. It has been absolutely crazy. The first couple years, like not many people knew about us.

And so now, now when we're going someplace, there's been times I'm like, oh my gosh, aren't you Wonder Woman? It's a very weird thing because no one knew about us and now everybody seems to. And so it's amazing.

And then we had our own personal kind of trauma last year because we lost a lot of stuff when our trailer caught on fire during our move. And we lost a ton of toys and costumes and all this stuff. And to see the community's response.

What was their response?

We got three times the amount we lost.

Oh, my God.

Between people donating, we had a judge in Lansing give us a trailer.

Wow.

We had. The amount of packages we had show up at the door was insane. Like, absolutely amazing.

I think that alone made me cry almost every single day to see that.

Oh, I bet.

Like the community is there to help us when we're not able to help the community.

I love that.

That was crazy.

I love that. What advice would you give someone who wants to start a nonprofit or a.

Sim similar thing to start a nonprofit, have a group of people behind you to help. You can't do it on your own.

Okay.

You cannot do it on your own.

It takes a village.

It takes a village. It really, really does understand that you're not, you know, for us, we don't make money at it. I know some people can.

But to understand you are not going to make money at it. You, you do this because you love doing it. You do it because you want to help people. And just to understand it is another full time job.

So just be ready. Commitment. Yeah, but it's worth it.

How much time would you say that you personally spend depending on the time of year?

Okay, what's the busiest? The before the gala? That is. Yeah, that's our fundraiser. And I will spend probably 30 plus hours a week on top of my full time job.

I've got the save the date for that on my refrigerator.

It's amazing.

I will be there next year. And then how much time specifically when you're getting ready for each event? Day of. What does that look like? Walk me through that.

Day of. Since I have curly hair. It's definitely a Shower to get the curls to come back. Shower. Just getting ready. You know, hair, makeup.

You know, we always make sure our suits are clean.

Right.

And then it's just head to the event, get dressed there. Cause you don't want to show up and see. Because Wonder Woman drives a jet, so they can't see me in a car.

No, no, no. Have you ever, like, kerfuffles or snafus?

Oh, yes.

Okay, tell me about one.

So a lot of the time, so with Batman, he can take his cowl off and nobody knows who he is, and that's great. Same with Spider Man.

Right.

But I have a tiara, so there's only so much taking off a tiara does.

Yes.

And so I've changed. After an event, I'll throw my hair up in a ponytail, throw glasses on. I'm hoping for the Clark Kent effect.

Yes.

And nine times out of 10, it doesn't really work. So a lot of times, kids will see me, and they're going, is that. And I go, shh. You can't tell anybody my secret identity. Yes.

And they're like, oh, okay. So then they're my buddy.

It's like, shh.

Yes. Secret identity. Yes, definitely.

Where do you see the League of Enchantment in five years?

Ooh, gosh. Well, hopefully in another state. We definitely want to continue expanding because we have Michigan and we have Chicago.

Right.

But then just more, I guess I'd love to see more members. Like, we have almost 200 right now.

That's so cool.

But we have so many requests, and we still have to deny stuff just because we can't do it. And I think I'd love to see more members another state.

And just to see the growth that the league can do and the amount of people we can help in that time would be amazing.

Yeah. Are there new types of characters or themes you're planning to introduce in the future?

So new characters really just depends on, like, what's coming up.

Right.

Right now, I think we need to add a bluey to our list. Like, we don't have bluey.

I think that would be a great idea.

Would that be amazing?

Or Miss Rachel.

We have a Ms. Rachel.

You do? Okay.

Yeah. So any character a kid would know and love. So it's not just superheroes, princesses. We have Star Wars. We have Ms. Frizzle. Yes, yes, I know.

But then we have started to introduce some anime, but it kind of just depends on what events we do for that. And then. Yeah, just any kind of character a kid's gonna Know what about, like, Stephen.

Blue from Blue's Clues?

Oh, that would be fun.

Yeah.

I think you would have to have, like, a blue puppet.

Yes.

To make him more recognizable, but that would be fun.

Very true. What about any Sesame street characters?

We don't have any Sesame street yet, but we do have a member who's a great puppeteer. So he brings, like, Stitch to life. He has him in, like, a hazmat container.

Okay.

And so he's pretending that he's the hazmat, and so he's got Stitch, but he also does that with, like, he has Trixie, a dinosaur. So he is a Jurassic park handler. And he is very loved that way. So it's fun to watch that.

Okay. Okay. What can people do if they want to get involved or support the League of Enchantment?

Yeah. So to get involved, go to our website. It's leagueofenchantment.org or Facebook. It's League of Enchantment Michigan.

We do have two, and you can email us and we'll send you an application. So it's an application and a background check.

Okay.

And then if you want to support, go to our website. We have a support button. We're always taking donations. Money goes right. To helping kids in the hospital. No one gets paid a penny.

Yes.

And I will verify.

I did snoop around the side a little bit. You guys have transparency. Like, everything is right there, and I love that.

Yeah, definitely.

That is something that most places just don't do.

They don't.

Yeah.

When we started, it was, you have to write out the bylaws and everything, and it was very clear nobody wanted to get paid. So it's right in our bylaws.

I love that.

Because we didn't want it to become a job. We wanted to be something that we all loved. And you get paid, you start to like. It becomes a chore, then.

Yes, exactly. What has founding the organization brought you or taught you, rather, about compassion, resilience, and community.

Oh, gosh. For compassion. You don't know what people are going through.

Like, you learn to completely not judge a book by its cover, because we can go into a hospital room and the kid can look completely fine. Like, the kid can be jumping off the walls, but you don't know that he actually has brain cancer. And right then that's a good day for him.

And same with our members, too. We have members that deal with PTSD who deal with severe anxiety. But putting on that mask helps them.

Yes.

And what was the other part?

The others were resilience and Community.

I think just understanding and being thankful for what you have and where your kids are at. Because I have four kids and you go into the hospital and you see those kiddos in the hospital and you're very thankful that yours are healthy.

Yes.

And then just community. It has made me see how good people really are and how many great people are out there in the hospitals within the community.

Meeting all of these other amazing foundations that are based on just helping people has been very eye opening.

That's good. I love to hear that. If you could say one thing to every child patient you visit, what would it be?

Be the hero someone sees today.

I love that. As one of the founders, what continues to motivate you every day?

Just that next smile, that next hug, the next walking down the hallway and you hear Wonder Woman. And just a kid comes running out of nowhere and just gives you this big hug and goes, I have a toy of you and you're my favorite.

Oh my gosh, that's wonderful. Well, thank you so much for hanging out with me today.

Thank you for having me.

Is there anything going on soon that people could come and see you guys?

Definitely. This Saturday we are at the Meridian Festival back by the Meridian Mall. There's a huge.

They have like a food truck rally and a lot of things for kids so we'll have people there. We're always at Ellie's race, so you can always see us there too. That's in July.

Okay.

Those are the ones I can remember. Oh, and Thursday, for anybody who's down by like Chelsea area, it is worth a trip. It is called Sounds and Sights.

It's a huge city, wide free festival for the kids.

Okay.

And it is so much fun. It really is. I think it's Thursday night at like 6.

Okay. So wonderful. Good to know. Good to know. Again, thanks so much, Katie.

Yes, thank you.

Thanks for listening to this episode of Conversations with Kate. You can find more information on LCC Connect site as well as all social platforms, Facebook, Instagram. Yes, TikTok as well. Big love.