Girl collects "snuggles and stories" for Children's Mercy patients

Children are supporting other children at Children’s Mercy, but they need the public’s help to brighten a patient’s day.

Kenzie Segreto, 7, said she’s collecting donations for the hospital.

“I like to help,” she said.

She said she and her mother were inspired by Lauren Petty, a 10-year-old patient at Duke Children’s Hospital.

“We, as a homeschooling family, are working on philanthropy and community service with our kids,” said Jamie Segreto, Kenzie’s mother.

Lauren, who is fighting a blood infection, collected money and donations for fellow patients in North Carolina.

“So we kind of took our inspiration from that,” Jamie Segreto said. “We were talking and said, ‘Let’s do the same thing for the children’s hospital here.’”

“We’re collecting books and stuffed animals,” said Kenzie Segreto. “We want (the patients) to feel OK and safe because sometimes they’re scared.”

Staff members at the Kansas City hospital said little things like that can make a big difference.

“Stuffed animals can be a comfort item for a child, as well as a birthday present,” said Shelly Nicoll, of Children’s Mercy Hospital. “It can be an incentive or a reward for getting through treatment.”

Jamie Segreto said it’s a valuable lesson that her daughter and other children can’t learn soon enough.

“If I don’t teach them at (ages) 3, 5, and 7 to give to their community, then it won’t occur to them to that when they’re 18 or 20 or 30,” she said.

Donated items must be new with the tags still on.

Read and see the full story via KMBC 9.

Learn more about ways to help kids at Children's Mercy.