Every year around this time, a clothing and blanket drive to help the homeless takes on a special meaning because of an idea that a special kid from Green came up with nine years ago.
In 2016, just before her 11th birthday, Bella Rink decided to organize a warm winter clothing donation drive in lieu of receiving presents for herself.
This led her to join Akron Snow Angels, an organization that helps the homeless and has a mission to “spread the warmth.”
Uniontown teen collects items for homeless community in lieu of celebrating birthday
RELATED: Uniontown teen collects items for homeless community in lieu of celebrating birthday
Over the years, Bella has done much of the collecting of warm items ahead of her birthday on Dec. 21.
But that tradition had to be modified three months ago after life threw her a curveball. Shortly after she started her freshman year at Kent State University, she started to feel sick.
She began to experience uncontrollable itching and noticed a knot in her neck, which turned out to be a swollen lymph node.