An 11-year-old artist used her talents to raise money and buy Christmas gifts for children at a hospital in Gainesville, Florida, this month.
Painter Grace Strickland auctioned off her own artwork online and raised $1,000 to buy presents for the young patients at UF Health Shands Children’s Hospital, WCJB reported.
“It’s really nice to knowing how much people actually do like my art,” she commented.
However, the reason she sells her work is not only because she likes to paint. Grace is one of four kids in her family, two of whom make regular trips to the hospital because of a genetic condition capable of affecting multiple organs.
“There’s a lot of kids at the hospital and I see my brother, he seems so happy when he gets toys or my sister,” Grace explained. “I just hope they have something to do even though they are stuck in the hospital.”
In a Facebook post Wednesday, the hospital shared a photo of Grace with the gifts she bought for the kids and thanked the artist for her generosity.
“This week Grace went shopping for toys for our patients and helped to drop off this huge donation. We are so incredibly thankful that she is so thoughtful and wanted to help others this season!” the post read:
Meet 11-year-old Grace. Grace has two siblings with rare, chronic diseases, who come to UF Health often for care and…
Posted by UF Health Shands Children's Hospital on Wednesday, December 23, 2020
Each gift makes a huge difference to the children staying at the hospital, according to Grace’s mother, Dawn.
“I’ve seen the impact it has on my four-year-old, even on my 16-year-old and it breaks the ice I mean you think ‘oh it’s just a present,’ but it’s so much more than that,” she noted.
“That’s the meaning of Christmas. It’s a gift,” Dawn continued. “If this is just one small way of saying Merry Christmas if this is the least you can do then I think it brings joy to us and them.”
Grace is planning to make the gift distribution a Christmas tradition.
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