A teenager raises $1 million

There’s a 15-year-old in Florida named Leigh Dittman who has brittle bone disease. She’s had dozens of broken bones, and spent so much of her life at Shriners Hospitals for Children in Tampa, she says it’s like a second home to her.

And back when she was two, she said she wanted to use every one of her birthdays to raise money for the place. So for the last 12 years in a row, that’s what she’s done.

Her family throws a huge birthday party every year. But instead of presents, she asks people to donate.

Now, there’s a big wall at the hospital, with plaques listing the names of all the donors who’ve given at least $1 million. So that was her goal. Which was KIND of lofty. And she admits it was partly because she just thought having her own plaque would be cool.

But her 15th birthday party was back in September — she raised $150,000 this year — and that put her over the top.

She’s now officially in the one million dollar club, and the hospital held a ceremony this past Monday where they unveiled her plaque.



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