• Name: Suzanna
• Age: 13
• Activity: Recycling used medical equipment for needy families
• Finalist award: A Nicki Fleming doll
• Nominated by: Her mother, Angela

My adopted daughter Suzanna is an amazing girl who was born 13 weeks early and has cerebral palsy. She has always put others’ needs before her own. When she was nine years old, we asked her to plan and implement a community service project. We expected something small. But she surprised us with an idea to recycle used medical equipment so that other families would have access to these things.

Suzanna has taught me to pick up the stones that life hurls at you and place them in front of you to build a path to freedom and success.

The idea took off and has grown so that she now organizes a volunteer team to build wheelchair ramps and raise funds for those ramps. In addition, she locates funding and provides families with travel stipends to offset the cost of traveling to out-of-area medical appointments.

When asked why she is so motivated to help, she simply states that it gives her a good feeling inside to know she was able to help someone else. This is pretty profound coming from a child who was predicted to die in the first year of life and was never expected to be able to communicate or do anything. I am proud to be the mother of such a beautiful, respectful, compassionate, and intelligent child who simply wants to help meet the needs of others. She is seemingly unaware that she has her own difficulties in life. She has taught me to pick up the stones that life hurls at you and place them in front of you to build a path to freedom and success.

Suzanna is 13 now and doing grant research and writing proposals to continue her work to meet the needs of others with similar disabilities. She is a wonderful role model for other girls and someone we could all learn a lot from. I feel like she has proven her value to this world and her community in an amazing way. Her compassionate spirit sets her apart and makes her shine.