 "Photo: Jason Driggs")
When other 11-year-old girls were playing with dolls and jumping rope, Emily Douglas was busy reaching out to help families in need.
Her grandmother, Norma Ackison of Ironton, Ohio, did the same until she passed away from breast and lung cancer in 1991. Douglas felt it was her job to continue what her grandmother started.
"Once she passed away, we began to realize that not everyone acted this way and the need for help was greater than imagined," said Douglas, an Ohio State graduate student in the Masters of Labor and Human Resource program at the Fisher College of Business.
In 1993, Douglas' eager kindness developed into a non-profit organization called Grandma's Gifts which honors the lessons her grandmother taught her.
Grandma's Gifts is an organization that works to provide food, clothing, books, toys, glasses, school supplies, scholarships and educational experiences to children, families, schools, businesses and organizations in Appalachian Ohio, West Virginia and Kentucky.
To date, more than $2 million in goods and services have been provided to needy families, according to the Grandma's Gifts Web site. Also, more than 650,000 books have been given to children, day-cares, hospitals and libraries. All of the money raised is used to pay for goods, services and books.
"My grandmother learned all too well the challenges and humiliation of poverty," said Douglas , who is now 24. "Through her words and her actions she taught us that it is our responsibility to reach out and help others who do not know the advantages that we often take for granted."
Her twin siblings, who are also OSU students, are also involved with the organization. Her brother, Zach, a senior in industrial and systems engineering and sister, Sarah, a senior in history, both hold the position of co-vice president.
Zach said he is in charge of transporting items where they need to go.
"I personally know what it's like to go to a grocery store and see families with kids just like me put back a lot of what they pick out because they just don't have the money to buy everything they need," Sarah said.
Additionally, the organization works to create awareness of women in science and recognition and appreciation of veterans. Douglas also speaks out to various government officials about leadership, school funding and education, breast cancer awareness, assisting libraries and book mobiles and feeding families.
"I love seeing that people are willing to help people that they don't even know and are willing to give to anyone," Zach said.
Emily Douglas was recently an Ohio finalist in the Volvo for Life competition, which honors five heroes from every state who have done something to benefit others in the past five years. The winner of the competition can receive up to $50,000 to donate to the charity of their choice.
Douglas was not chosen as an overall finalist, but winning is not everything to her.
"I would rather be satisfied with the number of people who know about the organization and Appalachia than sitting sad in the corner because I did not win," Douglas said.
Diana Norwood can be reached at norwood.27@osu.edu.
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