• Name: Hannah
• Age: 13
• Activity: Starting her own organization to collect books and give them to needy children
• Finalist award: A Nicki Fleming doll
• Nominated by: Her mother, Danna

After noticing piles of extra children’s books in our home, my daughter Hannah came up with an idea of sharing her love of reading with other kids who are going through a tough time or a sickness. Her non-profit organization "Pages of Love" began three years ago with a book drive at school for slightly used children’s books. During Pages of Love’s existence, 5,700 books have been donated.

Hannah hopes that as children read the donated books, they can forget about their problems for a moment and travel to exciting and wonderful places.

Hannah has learned responsibility in handling the collections. Books have to be counted, cleaned, and sometimes repaired, then each has a sticker placed on it so that people know it’s a donated gift. Each year, she also rewards the class that donates the most books with a party.

Books are taken to hospitals, a crisis center for families, and our local health department. Hannah hopes that as children read these books, they can forget about their problems for a moment and travel to exciting and wonderful places.

Recently, she was contacted by a mother of a child who had received one of the donated books. Her daughter had heart surgery and received a book in the children’s cardiac unit. We were able to meet them, and they wanted to support and give back to Pages of Love, so the family donated several boxes of children’s books. Hannah was able to see how the program had personally helped a child.

Through this idea, she has helped many kids that she may not ever meet, but she knows that even though we don’t get a thank-you each time, it is worthwhile. This program was implemented to help other kids, yet it has helped her as well to be more conscious of those who are going through a hard time and to be more thankful for her good health. She is a truly a great American Girl!