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After
her father was diagnosed with cancer, Emily Bhatnagar found herself escaping
into the pages of a book. Wanting other children to find the same relief that
she did, she began to collect and donate books for kids undergoing their own
cancer treatments.
The
book drive, called “For Love & Buttercup,” started small in July 2021,
and has since distributed over 10,000 books. The majority go
to hospitals in Virginia and Washington, D.C., including the one where
Bhatnagar’s father had been treated for his illness.
Bhatnagar, 18, dedicates the project to her dad and “everything he stands
for.” She fondly recalled the times when he would take her to Barnes &
Noble to pick out a book. “Books were always what I turned to for comfort,”
she tells Nice News. Channeling that passion into action, Bhatnagar uses
money she’s earned from her family’s bread shop in Maryland, as well as
Amazon wish list donations, to purchase books for children receiving
treatment.
This past January, at The Children’s Inn at NIH, Bhatnagar was able to meet
some of the kids who received the books. “They were going through such intense
treatment and at the same time they were still so … joyful and happy,”
the teen says. “It was the best day of my life.”
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