Blanchard First Grader Delivers Christmas Cards To Kids In Hospital

<p>Tre Ellis, 6, is no stranger to OU Children's Hospital because at one time, he was a patient there. Now he wants to spread a little Christmas cheer to other kids who have to celebrate in the hospital.&nbsp;</p>

Sunday, December 25th 2016, 6:38 pm

By: News 9


Tre Ellis, 6, is no stranger to OU Children's Hospital because at one time, he was a patient there. Now he wants to spread a little Christmas cheer to other children who have to celebrate Christmas in the hospital.

“Xbox One, some games for it,” said Tre, listing off the presents he received Christmas morning.

Even though Santa definitely delivered, Tre had a special delivery of his own to make at Children's Hospital.

“I thought it would be nice to give something back to the hospital,” he said.

Tre spent four days at the hospital earlier this year after his dog viciously attacked him. All better now, he laid out his plan to give back - Christmas cards - 44 of them.

“Me just doing all of these, that would have been hard,” he said of the homemade cards.

So he had his first grade classmates help him mass produce them, each with their own personal messages.

“When he came up with the idea it kind of blew me away that somebody so young would want to have a big heart and think of others,” said Nekia Ellis, Tre’s mom.

On Christmas day, he delivered the cards to the hospital, where the staff will pass them out to the children in the hospital.

“We have kids who are giving their Christmas gifts here instead of getting gifts at home,” said Sara Jacobson, with the OU Children’s Hospital Volunteer Charities. “They're going to give them back to the kids at the hospital.”

Jacobson says it's all part of Operation Elf, a year round toy drive.

“We are incredibly blessed at Christmas, people are so generous, folks who have been doing it for years coming year after year as one of their family traditions to give back to Children's,” said Jacobson.

Like Brandi Radtke and her family. Each year, they unload sacks and sacks of toys in honor of Destinee, Radtke’s niece.

“She was here for over 10 years off and on so she used all of these gifts year round and they brought her a little bit of peace,” Radtke said.

In 2001, at the age of 12, Destinee lost her fight with leukemia. The family said receiving toys and other donations during her stay at the hospital, gave her some joy. Now, they want to make sure other children have that same joy.

“We work hard every year to try and make sure that we respect her and that we honor her bravery that she showed,” Radtke said.

The children's hospital volunteers say out of the hundreds of donors this year, 38 of them were children. If you would like to help out, the hospital accepts donations all year long. Go here: http://www.volunteeratchildrens.org/

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