Birthday girl declines gifts, helps charity
Published: September 28, 2004
Most kids have a long list of gifts they want for their birthdays.
But Katelyn Brown didn’t want anything for herself this year.
Yesterday, the Mount Laurel seventh-grader, celebrated her 13th birthday with a party at a Church Road nail salon, Unique Nails and Toes, but the gifts were for others.
She requested that her friends and family make donations to Alex’s Lem-onade Stand, a national nonprofit organization that raises money for pediatric cancer research. The founder of the charity, Alexandra “Alex” Scott, 8, died Aug. 1 after battling neuroblastoma, an aggressive childhood cancer.
Her goal was to raise $1 million, and her parents are continuing the effort.
Katelyn said she chose Alex’s Lemonade Stand because her family knows a 7-year-old child who is battling cancer. Katelyn learned of the charity at the Mount Laurel Fall Festival earlier this month.
“It seemed like a pretty good way to help out and I thought it would be nice,” Katelyn said. “It could help kids who are sick around the world.”
Katelyn’s party yesterday raised $260 for Alex’s Lemonade Stand.
Katelyn said she wouldn’t miss the presents, but thought maybe some of her sisters, - Julie, Christie, Megan, Michelle and Kimberly - and brother, Michael, might give her a few gifts along with their donations.
“Katelyn has always been one to look out for others. She puts a lot of thoughts into her actions and thinks pretty deeply about things,” said her mother, Trish, who with her husband, Tom, said they are very proud of their daughter.
Giving to others seems to be a family trait.
In the summer of 2002, Katelyn and her sisters, following Michelle’s led, donated their hair to Locks of Love, a nonprofit group that provides hairpieces to children who suffer from hair loss because of various medical conditions and treatments.
“We try to instill in all the kids that it’s nice to give back and do for others,” Trish Brown said.
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