Brooklyn, a 10-year-old Santa Clarita girl, is selling bracelets to raise money for summer camp. She is also donating 20 percent of her proceeds to Children’s Hospital L.A., where she spent much of her childhood, and still goes for monthly therapy sessions.  

When Brooklyn was born, her mother and doctors quickly realized she was unable to breathe, said Tiffany Hernandez, Brooklyn’s mother. 

“When I was pregnant, I didn’t know anything was wrong. But when she was born, she couldn’t breathe and doctors found something on her lung,” Hernandez said.

The condition led to Brooklyn’s first surgery at Children’s Hospital L.A. (CHLA) at 6 months old. Since then, Brooklyn has undergone nine surgeries in her short life.

During this new chapter in Hernandez’s life, different families rallied around Hernandez and her daughter and held a yard sale to raise extra funds for the family.

Anything that is now given to Hernandez and her daughter or that they give to others, they now call Brooklyn’s Blessings.

“We’ve been given her for a reason,” Hernandez said. 

After spending the first year of her young life in Children’s Hospital L.A. and many more visits, whether it was for surgery or therapy, Brooklyn has done what she can to bring comfort to the different children who are in the hospital.

“We spent the first year at the hospital and now she goes through a lot of therapy and that is how we found her love for Play-Doh,” Hernandez said.

When the children are in therapy, they are given Play-Doh to play with to stay entertained.

However, because the hospital does not want germs to be spread, it can not take the Play-Doh back and must instead send it home with the kids. 

“They go through hundreds of Play-Doh’s,” Hernandez said.

Now, Brooklyn uses her birthday not to gain toys or gifts for herself but for the children in the hospital.

“When they ask me what I want for my birthday, I say instead of toys, I want Play-Doh to donate to CHLA,” Brooklyn said.

At first donations were slow, but due to her passion to be selfless and wanting to help bring joy and comfort to kids in the hospital, her donations have grown rapidly. 

“Last year we had 14,000 Play-Doh’s we donated,” Hernandez said.

To this day, Brooklyn is unable to swallow and needs to be fed through a tube, which holds her back from going to overnight summer camps. But she is finding other ways to spend her summers.

In the past, Brooklyn has gone to a horse summer camp and wants to go again.

To raise the $350 it costs for horse camp, Brooklyn is now making bracelets. Once again, she is still keeping the kids at Children’s Hospital L.A. in the back of her mind by donating 20 percent of her proceeds to the Medical center.

“She started making bracelets and started selling them on the corner like you would see a lemonade stand. She is now making bracelets nonstop. She is selling the bracelets for $3 or 2 for $5,” Hernandez said.

When her fans donate money but do not want anything in return, she will still make the bracelets and donate them to the children at the hospital.

“One person had the idea to write BB for Brooklyn’s blessings. So all the bracelets we donate have BB written on them now,” Brooklyn said.

Anyone who would like to purchase a bracelet from Brooklyn can text her mom at 661-714-4415 to arrange a pickup.

Or to donate to Brooklyn through Venmo, supporters can send money to Tiffany-Hernandez-29 and note “Brooklyn’s blessings bracelets for CHLA.”

While Play-Doh donations are usually made around her birthday in March, they will accept any donations throughout the year.

Those who would like to purchase Play-Doh for Brooklyn to bring to Children’s Hospital L.A. can use the following Amazon link.

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