Alyssa was born with a bowel deformity that had her airlifted from the Okanagan to BC Children’s Hospital in Vancouver not eight hours after she was born. She had four major surgeries in her first two years of life. Alyssa’s parents did not have the extra money needed for the trips to Vancouver. Variety was there to help the Jackson family with funding for travel and accommodation costs so Alyssa’s parents could be in Vancouver when she was undergoing surgery and treatment in Vancouver.
In 2004, Variety asked Alyssa if she would like to join other kids around the province who had been helped by Variety, in fundraising for the Kids Coin Drive. Alyssa jumped at the chance to help others and has been raising money ever since. With help from her parents, sisters and the rest of her family she has been collecting bottles, distributing coin boxes in her school and involving local businesses. Alyssa plans to help out with fundraising in the Coin Drive for as long as she can, as she loves to help others and hopes that one day there will be a Children’s Hospital in the Kelowna area so kids in the Okanagan do not have to travel so far for treatment.
Today, Alyssa is a thriving teenager who loves helping others. She will be going through one more surgery to have a tube removed from her appendix.
