Young hearts, big impact

Giving back doesn’t have to include a big check. Sometimes, the pool begins with $20 plus change. The spark might be a handmade keychain or piece of artwork. Maybe the genesis is a first birthday party or a PowerPoint pitch.

Often, giving back starts with a simple idea: What if we did something to help?

These young fundraisers aren’t waiting until they’re older to make a difference. They’re crafting, building a case for their favorite cause, turning a sports bracket into a fundraiser or transforming gratitude for their care into a way to support someone else.

Their gifts look different, but the heart behind them is the same: They’re determined to make things a little more incredible for the next kid.

Meet our young philanthropists who have already learned that you don’t have to have a lot to give a lot.

Amelia, 12, and Emily, 13: Making a difference, one keychain at a time

Amelia and Emily have turned their dining table into a homebase for crafting. Together, the sisters spend afternoons stringing bracelets and necklaces, molding clay into sculptures and turning paper into a canvas for colorful drawings.

But when they wanted to give back to the place that has cared for them since they were babies, they landed on something a little more entrepreneurial: an Etsy shop selling handmade keychains.

The sisters started their shop, Lilly and Kat — a combination of their middle names — in March. Each month, they pick a different nonprofit to support through a portion of their sales. Already, the sisters have donated about $200 to Children’s Health, and with their online fundraiser shop, they’ve reached people beyond their neighborhood.

Their keychains are colorful and customizable, with designs ranging from initials to college-themed creations. And they bring different styles to the work, too. Emily likes patterns. Amelia, a Children’s Health Patient Ambassador, describes her designs as “whimsical.”

Together, they’ve found that their differences work pretty well.

Now, the shop has become more than a way to raise money. The business has given them a chance to work together toward something they care about: helping other kids receive access to the same life-changing medical care. The kind of care that’s given Amelia the ability to walk without braces – something doctors thought as a baby she’d never be able to do.

“I want other kids to have the same hope and same support. I want other kids to be able to do whatever they want to do and just be a kid again,” Amelia said. “Children’s Health completely changed my life. I want that for other kids – I want their lives to be changed.”

Click here to check out Amelia and Emily’s Etsy shop!

Annie, 12: The pitch for kids

Annie was 7 when her grandparents first gave her an unusual assignment: Pick a nonprofit and make a presentation explaining why they should support it.

At first, Annie admits, she was more excited about the presentation than giving back. She has a knack for public speaking, and with her mom’s help, outlined her first pitch to support an animal rescue. But something changed when her proposal led to a gift that she realized could make an impact beyond her.

“Once I gave the money, I felt like I had changed somebody’s life,” Annie said. “Even just a tiny bit can turn around someone’s day.”

And when a close friend was diagnosed with cancer, Children’s Health became her cause of choice. When she asked him about his experience, he told her that everyone at Children’s Health “gets you” and that it felt like having a buddy there.

That stuck with Annie. She wanted to help make that experience possible for other kids, too. For the last two years, she’s pitched her grandparents, Ken and Dietra, to support the new Dallas pediatric campus, raising $23,000 to expand access to pediatric health care.

“It would help save even more kids from being sick,” Annie wrote in her presentation. “This new hospital is going to be gigantic. It is expected to be done in 2031, but if we help provide more money, they could get it done even quicker. If it gets done quicker, then we can help save children faster!”

Annie said the gift is an investment to help not just one child but thousands of them.

“I love knowing that I was able to give a small piece to that gigantic hospital, and that it will be there for other kids when they need it,” she said.

Hudson, 15: Turning a game into giving

For as long as he can remember, Hudson has been a “sports guy.” The left-handed center fielder and pitcher loves a good game of catch, and you can quiz him on all the stats.

So, when an unexpected cardiac event sent him to the hospital after he collapsed on the baseball field, the most natural pivot was for sports to become part of his recovery, too.

Back home and settling into his normal routine, he started thinking about the people who had helped him — his baseball coach, the police officer who responded to the scene and his care team at Children’s Health who got him back on his feet.

“I’m not really an emotional guy,” Hudson said. “Once I got out of the hospital, I wanted to go back to my normal life, like nothing ever happened. And then that just came into my mind, like we can give back to the hospital.”

The idea came just in time for something Hudson already loved: the World Cup. A fan of fantasy sports and brackets, he launched a peer-to-peer fundraising page and turned the tournament into a fundraiser for heart research at Children’s Health.

Hudson and his family created a World Cup bracket and sent it to friends and family, encouraging them to share it with their own contacts. The fundraiser quickly spread beyond his immediate circle, bringing together people Hudson didn’t even know.

He wanted the fundraiser to be fun, rather than asking people for money. And the approach made sense for him: He could do something he already enjoyed, while helping advance heart research that could benefit kids like him in the future.

For Hudson, that future matters. Some of the technology discussed during his care wasn’t yet available for pediatric patients, but research allows clinicians to better understand pediatric conditions and develop new treatments. Donations are essential to launching research studies that can change the lives of kids.

This summer, Hudson raised more than $13,600 toward Heart Center research. And when he thinks about the people who helped him, his response is simple: “Just a really big thank you, maybe a hug.”

While the bracket has ended, you can continue to help Hudson reach his goal to advance research in the Heart Center here.

Aarini, 17: Painting brighter tomorrows

Aarini hopes every child who sees her mural at Children’s Medical Center Plano walks away with something she needed when she was younger: hope.

“I really enjoy painting, so I decided to intertwine my love for art, my love for health care, and my love for our community as a way to give back,” she said.

Now, she’s using her talents to brighten the hospital for future patients.

Over the last year, the talented artist and Patient Ambassador alumna has spent her free time creating a mural that will soon be displayed on a digital board at the hospital. The artwork depicts children playing in a field beneath a vibrant sky.

She said she wants to use her creative talent to pay it forward for the incredible, lifesaving care she received as a patient. At age 5, she was hospitalized multiple times after experiencing severe asthma attacks. During her stay, Child Life team members helped the hospital feel more like home with board games and art supplies.

Now, she hopes her artwork offers other patients the same sense of comfort she found during her own hospital stays.

“That was the main goal behind using vibrant and brilliant colors – to mimic joy,” Aarini said. “Even though being in a hospital can sometimes feel very overwhelming, I hope it separates them from any anxiety that they might be feeling.”

Miller, 23: Passing the comfort along

Miller was 10 when she stood in front of a cabinet, making what felt like the most important decision in the world: Which fleece blanket?

There were sports ones and floral ones. Some had hearts and others had dinosaurs.

But she picked a camouflage one.

“I felt like the most special person in the world, knowing that somebody made this blanket for me and that somebody wanted me to get better,” she said.

At the time, Miller was newly diagnosed with complex regional pain syndrome, a chronic pain condition that causes intense burning pain. The blanket caught her tears as she struggled to accept the pain. And she carried it everywhere as a small comfort.

That memory became the inspiration for the Blanket Project through her nonprofit, Burning Hope. Rather than simply asking people for money, Miller wanted to give them a tangible way to help children living with chronic pain. Volunteers across the country make fleece blankets, which are then sent to hospitals, including Children’s Health.

Miller also hosts a 3K walk to raise funds for research and treatment for complex regional pain syndrome. This year Children’s Health received $15,000 from the walk toward growth of its pain management program, so children can find specialized care in North Texas close to their family and friends.

“Children’s Health helped me get to the point where I feel good. I feel healthy. Now, I can do what I always wanted to do and serve other kids who are experiencing this pain,” Miller said.

Kundi: A birthday worth celebrating

Kundi’s first birthday was more than a milestone. More than a baby covered in vanilla icing from a smash cake.

The celebration was a chance to look back at how far the little boy had come — and to celebrate the people who helped him get there.

Kundi was born with Down syndrome and a heart defect. At just 3 months old, doctors discovered he needed open-heart surgery sooner than expected. And at 4 months, he underwent the complex procedure at Children’s Health.

Now over 1-year-old, he’s thriving. Access to this specialized care is what’s allowed him to crawl, pull himself to a stand, dance to music and laugh at almost everything.

So, when his first birthday arrived, his parents wanted to celebrate in a way that reflected their gratitude. Instead of asking guests to bring gifts, they invited them to make a donation to Children’s Health through a peer-to-peer fundraising page.

“If you want to celebrate my kid and feel like giving a gift is something that will help you feel connected to him, here is a way to do that,” his mom, Betsy, said.

The idea resonated. Friends and family contributed, as did people who had never met Kundi but were moved by his story. The family raised over $1,600 to support the hospital’s greatest needs, and Betsy plans to continue raising money around the anniversary of his surgery and other milestones.

For her, the giving is about more than gratitude. Her family was fortunate to have support nearby, child care and the ability to stay at the hospital during Kundi’s surgery. She hopes their gifts can help make the experience easier for families who don’t have those same resources.

And the name Kundi, short for Mukundi, carries a fitting meaning in his father’s native Shona: overcomer.

“There are beautiful outcomes awaiting us,” Betsy said. “We know that Kundi will get to experience everything this life has to offer.”