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11-year-old girl spends savings on holiday gifts for other kids

Season of Hope: 11-year-old girl spends savings to buy holiday gifts for kids
Posted at 5:36 PM, Dec 15, 2020
and last updated 2020-12-15 17:36:54-05

SAN CARLOS, Calif. — SAN DIEGO - After a year of saving, an 11-year-old girl is finally spending all her money -- on other kids.

During last year's holiday season, even before Sienna Ince opened her gifts, a question popped into her mind.

"Why do I get so many gifts when there are others who don't get any, and their parents just have to pay bills," said Sienna.

So Sienna decided to use her birthday money and money from chores, and bought $70 worth of gifts, with many of them going to Toys For Tots.

"She loaded everything onto the conveyor built at the checkout stand and paid for it ... It made me very proud of her. Love to take credit it, but it was all her," said Sienna's mother, Nichel Ince.

This year, amid the pandemic, Sienna decided to step up her game. Her parents' jobs have been impacted, but not as much as for many others.

"I know that other people can't get gifts because parents are losing their jobs in this hard time. They can't get a lot of things. I just want to make sure everyone during this time can get gifts," said Sienna.

Sienna set up lemonade stands and cooked up bake sales, and set aside the money she received from her birthday and chores. In the end, she saved about $200. Her father then made an appeal on the Nextdoor app for families, and kids in need -- of something under the tree.

"I want them to feel happy knowing that they're going to get gifts, and they're going to wake up and be happy with their gifts," said Sienna.

Sienna has finished her shopping, which included more than 20 gifts. She just started with the wrapping, and she's issuing a challenge to kids who aren't in need.

"Maybe you can ask your parents to not give you one of your gifts on your list, and give something to other people ... I just want other people to see this and think that you can also make a difference," said Sienna.

Sienna's parents have agreed to help her if more families come forward in need of gifts.

Sienna' parents have also started a Gofundme campaign to help buy and deliver more holiday gifts.

This story originally reported by Michael Chen on 10News.com.