Brinley Williams was so touched when she got an American Girl doll as a present when she was in the hospital for a long stay that she decided to help others feel that same happiness.
So the 6-year-old girl worked for months, first running a lemonade stand and then working for tips at a family friend’s restaurant, to raise $1,500 so she could buy those same dolls for other children who were laid up at St. Francis Children’s Hospital. The youngster’s unprompted act of kindness is now getting national attention, with NBC News featuring her fundraising efforts.
The Oklahoma girl was born with a kidney condition and was hospitalized for a number of days last July. During that time she was given an American Girl doll as a present, and decided she would repay the gesture by helping other kids at the hospital.
Brinley first set up a lemonade stand, where she was able to raise $400. She then moved up to collecting tips at the restaurant, making another $1,500. She used that money to buy 15 American Girl dolls for the other young patients facing long stays in the hospital.
The kindhearted gesture earned Brinley Williams plenty of accolades.
“It is incredibly heartwarming to know that there are parents still teaching their children love, compassion, and the value of hard work amid these troubling times when those admirable qualities seem to have taken a backseat to hate, privilege, and entitlement,” noted Carbonated .
6-year-old Brinley Williams has dealt with kidney issues since she was born and wanted to give back to the hospital where she spent a number of days herself, her mother says https://t.co/uHMB1xrrAM
— NBC New York (@NBCNewYork) June 4, 2018
Brinley Williams is not the first youngster to raise a big haul for a good cause. Back in 2015, a 10-year-old named Alyssa De La Sala raised more than $15,000 at a lemonade stand to help her family’s home after it was destroyed by a fire.
The girl’s father said she came to him with the idea of opening the stand to raise money to help the financially strapped family, and he humored her at first. But soon the community rallied around the young girl and her family, bringing in thousands of dollars worth of lemonade sales, enough for the family to save their home from going into foreclosure.
“I was totally amazed by the turnout,” said Joe De La Sala. “There are a lot of people who are in a lot worse situations but to see people still come out and support us for what we’re going through it’s really amazing. I’m at a loss of words.”
After raising the $1,900 for the American Girl dolls, Brinley Williams plans to hand-deliver them to the patients later this month.
