Emma Mertens, a brave 7-year-old student at Hartland North Elementary was diagnosed with a inoperable brain tumor on January 23rd, 2019. To cheer up the young girl, family friends mailed and emailed photos of their dogs. Emma has a love for animals, especially dogs. The family friends also asked some of their own friends and the message soon spread like wildfire.
Within just a few days, social media posts about Emma went viral. Emma received about "2,800 emails each hour and mail by the truckload" according to her father, Geoff Mertens. He guesses that they have received about 50,000 pictures as of March 2019. Emma has received letters from pups all over the world.
This act of kindness from this small community, has grown into a world wide effort to bring joy to Emma Mertens as she battles her condition. This shows the effect of how a single kind act can trigger many others and cause multiple communities to come together in a single effort of kindness. We should all be inspired, not just from Emma, but from the people who participated in the operation.