Better to give than receive

From all accounts, Mattie Frank has always been a giving child.

Whenever she has an extra piece of candy or two toys, she shares with friends.

So it came as no real surprise to her mother when the two of them were driving through New Bern in October and the 5 ½-year-old made an announcement.

“Mommy, I want to save up my allowance and buy some stuffed bears for the sick kids in the hospital at Christmas time,” said the kindergarten student.

“Did you think of that on your own?” her mother Kristi asked.

The little girl nodded.

“How are you going to pay for them?” her mother wondered.

“Chores,” said the little girl.

And so began Mattie’s stuffed animal Christmas project.

Mattie receives an allowance for cleaning up her room.

As her fortunes would have it, she is at an age when baby teeth fall out.

Three visits from the Tooth Fairy added handsomely to her booty.

“We ramped her chores some, helping with things like cleaning and carrying in small bags of groceries and other things around the house,” said her mother. “She saved up. It’s amazing how much money she has been stocking away in that little kitty purse of hers.”

With Christmas nearing, Mattie and her mother made trips to Target and Walmart and the youngster picked out 15 stuffed animals — mostly bears, along with a giraffe and a couple of monkeys.

Mattie doesn’t like boxes or price tags on her toys, so she took them out of the boxes and took the tags off.

She put the animals into large bags and on Tuesday delivered them to children who spent Christmas at CarolinaEast Medical Center.

The stuffed creatures found homes with appreciative children ranging from infants to some a little older than Mattie.

A lot of “Merry Christmas” greetings were exchanged.

The youngster has grown up with an awareness of medicine and hospitals.

“I’m a nurse and she’s always known that mommy takes care of people and she has come to work with me a time or two and has always been interested in that,” said Kristi.

Mattie has visited sick family members in the hospital and has never been intimidated by the medical atmosphere.

“With me being a nurse, she has had lots of questions about health and sick people,” Kristi said.

Kristi, who is the nurse manager at the Coastal Carolina Health Care Endoscopy Center, said her daughter had always been taught the value of sharing.

When asked, Mattie can’t pinpoint when she came up with her idea to share Christmas.

Her mother thinks it may have come from watching a television program about St. Jude’s Children’s Hospital.

“They had a story about the little kids with cancer and Mattie is a big anti-smoking advocate,” Kristi said.  “She will tell strangers to stop smoking because it causes cancer. She hates, hates, hates smoking.”

The Bridgeton Elementary School student is an only child and an only grandchild on her mother’s side of the family, so she is a constant center of attention by relatives.

 “But she has always been concerned with other people,” her mother continued. “I’m very proud of her.”

Charlie Hall can be reached at 252-635-5667 or chall@freedomenc.com.