Brianna Wilson Updated: December 13, 2021 10:27 PM Created: December 13, 2021 4:26 PM
A 7-year-old from Albuquerque-Jo Harris Elementary School in Albuquerque, New Mexico proves that you are never too young to make a difference in the community.
"I'm just proud of her. I'm about to cry," Emma's mother Ashley Johnson said.
Seven-year-old Emma Johnson wanted only one thing last Christmas.
"'Instead of giving me gifts, I want to give gifts to other children so they can spend Christmas like me," Emma said.
Emma's family helped her make and sell rainbow keychains and brought a thousand dollars in gifts.
Emma's first-year teacher Amanda Trujillo, nominee of Pay It 4ward, bought one last year.
"Then this year I saw her in the hallway and she was wearing a shirt. It looked like this. I told her how cute it was, and she told me she sold them this year and did the same thing to raise money for Carrie Tinley, "Trujillo said.
Emma's has her own website where people can donate money or buy "goodwill" T-shirts.
Emma designed them herself and adhered to the rainbow theme.
Trujillo said: "Their T-shirts have rainbows, and all the packaging has rainbows. She wrote some small cards with the words'Thank you' and rainbows on them. This is just something that people don’t really do. At her age, I am very impressed and proud, because even if it is an adult, there are not many adults doing such a thing, so we are proud of her and we want to support her as much as we can."
So she called KOB 4 to help pay it 4ward.
"Emma, I am proud of the shirts you have been selling. We will pay you $400 for the gifts you bought for the children at Carrie Tingley," Trujillo said.
Emma said she couldn't wait to start spending money on gifts.
"I'm going to buy toys for the children at Carrie Tingley Hospital. Because I want to give toys to children who can't afford them--or children who can't afford them. That's what I want to do with the money," Emma said .
Last year, Emma raised enough money to buy hundreds of gifts for the children.
Emma said: "It makes me very happy, because I like helping others very much, because I think this is a good thing in the world."
"This year her income has tripled from last year," Johnson said.
Emma's goal is to sell 150 shirts by December 15. All donations and the money from the shirts purchased later will be used for next year's gifts.
"People really like to help me, I know they like to help me because I know these people also like to help others," Emma said.
The deadline for donating or purchasing Emma's "goodwill" t-shirts is December 15. Any subsequent donations or purchases will be used as gifts for next year.
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