Every Monday, 11-year-old Olivia Reaves collects her weekly allowance of $10 and stores it away to save up for a video game she’s had her eyes on. But on Dec. 21, she decided to donate all of it to The Smile Train – an organization that provides free cleft lip and palate surgery to millions of children in developing countries.
Her mother Elise recalls Olivia gathering up the allowance in her hands and literally giving all the money back to her.
The story really began a few months ago when Olivia was watching TV and The Smile Train commercial came on. The more she learned, the more she wanted to get involved.
"I kept watching it and listening about it," recalled Olivia. "The more I learned about it, the more I felt bad. Sometimes I watch these things and I’ll forget about it and get sucked back into my TV shows but I couldn’t forget about it. It was really, really sad to see these kids – some had two cleft lips on one mouth. I wanted to change this and I said to myself, ‘Not this time. I’m going to make a difference.’"
With her birthday coming up and her younger sister Zoe’s fifth birthday on its way, Olivia – with the help of her mother – brainstormed how she could get more involved. They finally decided to throw an alternative birthday party. In lieu of presents, the Reaves girls have asked for donations to their favorite charities – The Smile Train and Zoe’s favorite charity the World Wildlife Fund.
Olivia invited her classmates at the Stillman School to her joint birthday party at the Hackensack River Rink Dec. 21. Once the word spread about her desire to donate as her birthday gifts this year, Olivia was happy that others could also help save lives.
"I told my friends about The Smile Train and what I wanted to do," remembered Olivia. "They passed it [information] around the class and they were happy they could help also. It feels really great that I spread the word. That means more kids will be able to get their surgeries and will get to smile for a bright future with no more bags over their heads for feeling embarrassed."
According to Elise, Olivia’s curiosity and passion to help others and animals occurs on a day-to-day basis.
"She wants to help everyone, and doesn’t understand why everyone wouldn’t just want to give and help when they saw others in need," said Elise. "She cannot watch TV without writing down an 800 number on any scrap of paper she can grab at the time. She’s always coming to me and handing me these scribbled numbers and saying, ‘Mommy, we need to help them’ or ‘Send them money for clothes and food.’"
Perhaps innate, Elise admits Olivia didn’t learn it from her or her husband Ron. But she said they are learning to be more giving through Olivia.
"I’m certainly no angel – she was born this way and didn’t pick up any of her ideas or ways from us," confessed Elise. "We are far from granola, but we are looking for ways all the time now to be more giving, to help Olivia and her causes. She’s making us better people."
Inspiring her family and friends, Olivia hopes her special birthday story will inspire even more people in the community.
"I hope that more people will help others and will get donations for their birthday gifts or Bat Mitzvahs too," said Reaves excitedly thinking about the possibilities. "Maybe the people in this whole entire neighborhood could do it!"
Olivia is the current pet keeper for Stillman School Principal Barbara Simitian Laudicina’s fish. When she grows up, Olivia hopes to be a zoo keeper so that she will be able to work with animals and cheer people up.
Though she has donated half of her entire allowance to the cause and will have to start saving again for that video game, Olivia said "it was all worth it."
A little over an hour after the birthday party ended, Elise counted a total donation of $1,780 which covers roughly seven surgeries at $250 per surgery.
Source: Copied from NorthJersey.com
What an inspirational story, we are so very excited when we read how all of you are making a difference!
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