Lilly James is eleven years old and has been outwardly thinking of and bringing joy to others for the past three years, specifically children from infant to eighteen years old who have been sick or hospitalized. Lilly, now a fifth grader at Lee Eaton, has collected gifts or donations to purchase gifts for Christmas for others, so that they may have a delightful Christmas. This is her fourth year!
Her mother Jessica says that what inspired Lilly to do this was one Christmas when they asked her for her Christmas list, she said she did not have one, and that she wanted to give her Christmas gifts to sick kids at hospitals. Lilly said, “the mommies and daddies should not have to worry about getting them something” and that is what she wanted to do. “Make sure every child had a gift to open on Christmas”. When Lilly was asked where she came up with the idea, she said, “she saw something on YouTube about giving gifts”.
Lilly’s favorite things to do are to personally pick out and select all of the gifts she will be giving the kids of all ages at the hospital. After shopping, they sort all of the gifts into age-appropriate bins, and into bags. The best part is hand-delivering the gifts, according to Lilly! Upon arrival to the hospital, Lilly will often remark to her mommy how much she knows the kids will like what she picked out for them.
Since Covid-19 it has been difficult to get in to hand deliver the gifts. Prior to the Covid-19 pandemic, Lilly was able to see the kids in the hospital and the smiles that light up their faces when she arrives with presents.
They started out their first year in 2019 with just 25 gift bags. Jessica posted Lilly’s story on social media (Facebook) and people reached out to help. They also asked family and friends to donate and with that they started to raise more money and gifts. Every year their gift donation drive has grown. In 2021, their estimated donation cash value was around $4,500.00.
DROP OFF LOCATION:
Items can be dropped off at: 983 Thistleridge Drive, Macedonia, OH 44056.
The James Family starts collecting items for girls and boys ages infant to eighteen years old in November. They will travel to people’s homes to pick items up from them that they want to donate, or items are dropped off at the James’ home to drop things off. Items have been included from the following stores: Kohl’s, Wal-Mart, 5 below, dollar store, bath and body works, and other popular stores.
GIFT-GIVING IDEAS:
New toys like matchbox cars, remote control cars, dolls, coloring books, crayons, bibs, teething rings, rattles, blankets, lip gloss, diaries, pens (fun kinds), nail polish, nerf guns, stuffed animals, games, crafts, art stuff, fidget toys, etc.
What Lilly’s Family Would like others to know about Lilly:
Lilly is a very unique little girl. She truly has a heart made of gold. As parents you always think your job is to teach your children everything. You never take a step back and realize that your child is changing you by the way she is with other people. Lilly is a person who will hug anyone she sees without thinking twice about it. Her heart is filled with nothing but love for others.
Jessica says, “adults taking care of our families, going to work, and living in this hectic world we sometimes lose sight of the important things, ones that matters most. Things like being human, remembering to take a minute slow down and enjoy life and people and show love, compassion. Remember everything isn’t perfect and it’s okay”.
Lilly, a fifth grader at Lee Eaton has made friends in school that transfer in that don’t speak English at all but finds a way to communicate with them. She helped a kindergartener on the bus last year who was scared to get on, and she had him sit with her so he would be ok riding it to and from school. Lilly loves to give compliments, things like “You’re pretty or You’re beautiful”. In preschool, she received her first award for giver of compliments.
According to Jessica James, “This Christmas donation means so much to our family mostly because our daughter came to us and said this was something she wanted to do. We told our other three children Zachary-19, Casey-16, and Kiley-
12 ½ what she wanted to do, and also explained to them that this would take away from their Christmas. They were perfectly fine with it. That’s when My husband (Brian) and I realized we raised our children right and they knew what the holiday was truly about”.
Paying It Forward:
Jessica says, “so we went to work on it. As for my Husband and I we were even more moved that our daughter wanted to do it since we had a year where things were a little rough for us around the holiday and we were blessed by some special people. We always knew we would pay it forward from that point on. You never know when you may be the one in need at some point in your life, but when you are able to give back and find a way to help get your community and others involved you feel the sense of humanity back in this world and the holiday spirit truly comes out. There really is no better gift then this. To everyone who has helped us, continues to help and just starts now- you have no idea how much you are doing. We are hoping one day to make our daughter’s dream big enough to become a foundation to help all children in all communities”.
