#SomethingGood: 6-Year-Old Humanitarian Brings Hope to Refugee Kids Across the World

Paisley recently learned she's been nominated for a special award from the UN for her humanitarian efforts in helping refugee children

From Central America, to Europe, and even the Middle East, Paisley Elliott is on a mission to bring hope to refugee children around the world -- and to show them someone cares about them.

Her humanitarian efforts have taken her inside a refugee camp and have even garnered the attention of the United Nations. Oh -- and she's only 6 years old?

"I learned about refugees kids at school," said Paisley, who lives in Grapevine. "A refugee is a person who has to leave their home because it isn't safe. Sometimes they get to bring as much as they can carry. And sometimes they can't bring anything except the clothes they're wearing."

The more she learned about refugees, the more she felt she ought to do something to help them.

"She came to my room one day just in tears," said her mother Tali Jones. "And she had her arms filled with stuffed animals. And she said mom, I just want to give these to refugee kids because they need it more than I do."

Touched by her daughter's sentiments, Jones helped Paisley organize a drive to collect stuffed animals -- or "lovies" as she calls them -- which they planned to donate to an organization that works directly with Syrian refugees.

Hopeful they'd be able to send a few dozen "lovies" to refugee kids, Paisley's enthusiasm for the project resulted in them collecting closer to 500 stuffed animals. Her mom was astounded.

"We initially thought it would be a one time project," Jones said.

But after her first big success, Paisley wanted to keep going.

So for their encore, they decided to gather first aid supplies and send them to a United Nations refugee camp in Mexico.

They collected hundreds of pounds of supplies. And this time, they got to personally deliver the items to refugee families, getting a special invite from the UN to tour the camp and meet with the people there.

"I was a little nervous at first," Paisley said. "And then I felt happy that they got safe."

That experience only fueled Paisley's desire to help.

She's since held multiple fundraisers and passed out fliers at community events to raise money for an organization called Team Humanity, which works directly with children and families at the Moria Refugee Camp in Lesbos, Greece.

She recently gave them $1,000 to buy weather-proof tents for the people living there. She also sent them boxes of superhero capes for the kids to play with.

"Happy, brave, and strong," Paisley said. "Those are the only three things I want them to feel."

She's now working with that same organization on her biggest and most ambitious project yet. 

"I wanted to build a school for refugee kids in Greece," Paisley said. 

This year, in lieu of presents for her birthday, Paisley is asking her family, friends and the community to help her raise $50,000 to open a school at the refugee camp.          

"So that they can learn -- because everyone deserves to learn," Paisley said. "I would love everyone to help."

She's off to a good start -- in just three weeks, she's already raised $8,000.

She'll be running a lemonade stand at 555 Dove Creek Place in Grapevine over Memorial Day Weekend to get closer to her goal. They'll be out from 12:00pm - 3 p.m. Sunday and Monday -- and invite the public to stop by.

You can also make donations online through the Paisley's Pals GoFundMe page.

Her efforts haven't gone unnoticed. Paisley recently learned she's been nominated for a special award from the UN for her humanitarian efforts.

"The reality is she's a better human than I am," Jones said.

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