11-Year-Old Raises Nearly $50,000 for Kids With Cancer by Running

Kaitlyn Lee, of Alabama, has been raising money through running since she was just 7.

An 11-year-old girl has been running to raise money for children with cancer for four years. 

Kaitlyn Lee, of Alabama, runs to raise money for the Jessie Rees Foundation, an organization that gifts kids battling cancer with “Joy Jars.”

She hopes to meet her goal of raising $50,000 this year and she’s just $1,500 away.

“They fill them [Joy Jars] with all sorts of toys and hats or silly socks and just age appropriate things just to kind of give them a little boost of joy while they're having a bad day,” Kaitlyn’s mom, Nina Lee, told WHNT.

Nina and Kaitlyn have run more than 45 races to help the cause. Kaitlyn said she started running when she realized not everyone was as fortunate as her.

"I had a feeling that I wanted to help because I realized there were people that didn't have everything that we had in our everyday lives,” she said.

The 11-year-old said that when she finally meets her $50,000 goal, she is going to shave off her hair to celebrate.

"I can't wait to have to not do my hair in the morning…. and it gives me more of an opportunity to tell people what I do because people will just be ‘why did you shave your head?" Kaitlyn said.

Her fundraising page can be found here.

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