Many young people dream about stirring up the status quo. To reach beyond the borders of their home and touch the hearts and minds of new people. For student Kennedi Veland, this dream became a reality.

Veland is a freshman at LHS with a heart of gold. On the outside, she looks like a pretty normal girl. She has played softball and intends to participate in bowling and archery over the school year. But behind the scenes, Veland packages “HeartCare boxes” and ships them to girls in hospitals afflicted with chronic and life-threatening illnesses. These packages are completely free for the girls as they are purely non-profit. Veland started her project in 2016 and taking inspiration from an assignment she had in church.

“There was a girl at my school who got sick, so I thought it would be really nice to give her something to help,” said Veland. “So after that I continued the project for my church.”

Veland did not just go from your average 14-year-old with a helping hand to an inspirational leader overnight. It took a lot of time and effort in order to reach out to organizations that were willing to provide a large amount of supplies for  the “HeartCare boxes.”. Veland created an Instagram page and a GoFundMe to help raise funds to supply more boxes to girls across the U.S.

“It was just me to start. I just individually sent emails to all the people I thought could help,” said Veland. “Companies will send me a lot. Sometimes I’ll email them but other times they’ll ask if they can help by sending stuff.”

Veland has worked with a local troop of the Girl Scouts of America to fulfill their 50 hours of community service requirement for their Silver Star award, the most revered award a Girl Scout cadette can receive. Veland ships her “HeartCare boxes” to girls ages four to 25 and potential recipients can fill out an application for a “HeartCare box” here. To be a part of the project and help Veland assemble and distribute “HeartCare boxes”, you can donate through the “HeartCare boxes” Instagram or GoFundMe. Veland looks to reach as many girls as possible.

“I’m going to continue as long as I can. [As long] as I am fundraising enough money to ship the Heartcare boxes out, I can make a difference.” said Veland.