Elizabeth Beasley is a creative type -- she acts in Greensboro's community theater and drew the cover art for her elementary school's 2008-09 yearbook.
But this is the 9-year-old's first time putting that energy into charity fundraising.
"If I live to see that they found a cure for cancer, I will feel really, really good," Elizabeth says.
She's handing out pencils adorned with ribbons carrying the message "help stop cancer" to raise money for research into the disease.
"She's putting fliers all over the neighborhood, and she's given a pencil to everyone in her class," says Elizabeth's mother, Jeana Beasley.
Elizabeth wanted to do something when she learned that her great-aunt, Jeane Smith, has terminal cancer. Doctors say that Smith has three months to a year to live.
Brock Smith, her great-uncle, sits with Elizabeth at Glenwood Presbyterian Church while her parents sing in the choir.
"He's kind of adopted her during the service," Beasley says.
Upon hearing that her pew-buddy's wife had cancer, Elizabeth decided to take up the fight.
Her goal is $500. She's raised about $150 so far. The money will likely be split between the American Cancer Society and another cancer foundation, donated in her great-aunt's name.
The work reinforces what Elizabeth said she learned in her fourth-grade class at Alamance Elementary.
"In class we were talking about volunteers, and my teacher pointed this out: it makes you feel really good inside," Elizabeth says. "And it does."
Contact Gerald Witt at 373-7008 or gerald.witt@news-record.com To see more of the News & Record or to subscribe to the newspaper, go to http://www.news-record.com. Copyright (c) 2009, News & Record, Greensboro, N.C. Distributed by McClatchy-Tribune Information Services. For reprints, email tmsreprints@permissionsgroup.com, call 800-374-7985 or 847-635-6550, send a fax to 847-635-6968, or write to The Permissions Group Inc., 1247 Milwaukee Ave., Suite 303, Glenview, IL 60025, USA.
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