ALANA HUDSON is a bright, buoyant eighth grader who, with adult-level determination, has launched her own tradition of giving. When Alana was 8 years old, she came up with the idea — totally on her own — of donating to children in the pediatric ward during the Christmas season. To undertake something like this at age 8 is, to say the least, very unusual. Alana’s concept was original.
“I was going to collect $8 — my age — from family members and make a donation to the pediatric unit,” Alana explained.
Her mom, Andrea, remembered that Alana showed her “the first note asking for donations, and I thought, ‘This is for real!’”
And it was very much for real. She saw a need and responded with compassion and dedication. Since then, Alana has kept at it, with the donations climbing up to reflect her age — $10 when she was 10 and so on.
Andrea paved the way for her daughter, getting in touch with the Centra Foundation, but the outreach was all Alana’s.
Centra’s response was enthusiastic. “Great! We can do that!” was the reaction Alana remembered. “We did money first, and then we did different things through the years.”
Many of the different things were based on the hospital’s current need or her own gut feelings about what would cheer up these kids facing pediatric care. The need for essentials spiked during the COVID-19 pandemic, for example.
Alana is ever-flexible, alternating between fun stuff, essentials, and straight-out donations. She has also donated different gift baskets for various age groups.
Build-A-Bear was a key component. For those who aren’t around the younger set, Build-A-Bears are a very engaging menagerie of adorable stuffed animals — cats, dogs, frogs, and bears (of course) — which can be customized via accessories. Alana carefully explained her mission to everyone in the store where she was bear-shopping. Through a combination of coupons and the cooperation of the staff, she managed to receive a discount that enabled her to buy enough Build-A-Bears for the whole pediatric unit.
Hospital rules don’t allow contact with the kids in the pediatric units, so Alana’s contacts are with the doctors, nurses, and staff. She is in her sixth year of this outreach and plans to continue.
It seems almost automatic that any younger generation is admonished and viewed as lacking. We know the current crop of stereotypes: today’s kids are self-obsessed and glued to their devices. What Alana is doing is exceptional, but thankfully, she is far from the only one — she certainly is representative of her age group.
Although she does not meet with these young patients in person, Alana is very aware of what these kids are facing. These are some heavy stories. How does she deal with all that?
“Sometimes it’s hard,” she concluded, “and sometimes it’s, ‘Okay, I’ve got this!’”
Yes, you do, Alana — you’ve got this. GN
