SES fourth grader gives to Ronald McDonald House

Published 12:02 am Wednesday, March 18, 2015

Annaclaire Harper is shown giving her donation at the Ronald McDonald House. |                       Courtesy photo

Annaclaire Harper is shown giving her donation at the Ronald McDonald House. | Courtesy photo

Straughn Elementary School fourth grader Annaclaire Harper has a giving heart.

For her 10th birthday, she didn’t want gifts and surprises, she asked everyone to bring coloring books and crayons.

Her plans for the coloring books were to give them to children at the Ronald McDonald House in Pensacola, Fla.

“I’m blessed that I don’t have anything wrong with me,” she said. “Those kids aren’t. I wanted to do something to make them smile.”

Family and friends didn’t fail her, bringing her 91 coloring books and crayons to donate.

On Saturday, Annaclaire and an assortment of family members took the gifts to the children.

“I got to meet some of the children while they were eating,” she said. “Some of the were about my age. It made me sad because I get to play ball and they won’t be able to have a normal life because they have cancer and other things.”

Annaclaire said it was her first visit to the Ronald McDonald House.

“They took me on a tour and it was really pretty,” she said.

AnnaClaire is no stranger to helping others.

She’s the granddaughter of Meredith’s Miracles Emily Yehling and she’s helped with numerous fundraisers for the organization, including the Valentines Store, Cookies with Characters and the annual fish fry.

She collected 5,000 bandaids for the Cooper’s Crew Beauty pageant two years ago and was named the Bandaid Queen.

Additioanlly, Annaclaire plays softball.

She’s the daughter of Tammy and Heath Harper.