Gabriella MillerA sweet 9-year-old girl, Gabriella Miller, from Leesburg, Virginia, started getting headaches a few weeks ago. Then the side of the 4th grader’s face started to droop. An MRI revealed news that no parent ever wants to hear; their kind, generous, vivacious little girl has an inoperable brain tumor.

Gabriella’s cancer qualified her to have her wish granted by the Make a Wish foundation. This spring, after finishing her chemo, she is going to Paris, France. And Gabriella decided she wanted to make other sick kid wishes come true too and she had a plan. She decided to raise $10,000.

Every Christmas, for every letter they receive to Santa, Macy’s department store donates $1 to the Make a Wish Foundation. Gabriella had help creating a Facebook page and letters to Santa came pouring in from all over the world. Gabriella not only raised the original $10,000 that she had set out to make but in the end, with the support of her community and the tireless efforts of friends and family, she raised over $240,000 to be donated to the Make a Wish foundation to help other sick children have their dreams come true.


Cnn - 4th-grader raises $240K for Make-A-Wish - CNN.com Video

I know this little girl’s parents are going through the most difficult thing any parent can go through; knowing that their child may die but how proud they must be of their daughter. How their hearts must be bursting with love and adoration for their sweet child.

There is reward in giving. It is a special kind of warm fuzzy feeling and I think we are selling our children short if we think they are not capable of understanding or wanting this for themselves. As parents, it is our job to show them the way and to give gentle nudges in the right direction.

Have you involved your children in your philanthropic giving efforts? How?


Image via WJLA