BEACHWOOD, Ohio — On any given day, you'll find 17-year-old Dalya Berezovsky at Beachwood High School, drawing or painting.
It's just one of the things she loves to do. She also loves to bake, dance and sing!
To know Dalya is to love her. She enjoys daily chats with her grandmother in Minneapolis, and spending time with her brother and sister. But nothing in her life makes her happier than helping others.
“(I want to) help as many kids as we can,” Dalya told us.
You see, she knows firsthand what it's like to be in the hospital as a child.
“It literally was a living nightmare. What I had to see her go through, no parent should have to go through," said her mom, Wendy.
Dalya was born with a cancerous tumor in her mouth area. Some doctors told her mom to prepare for the worst.
“And I said no. I said, 'You need to do something,'" Wendy said.
Dalya did something, too. She fought.
“I know that I fight it, and I'm proud of it," Dalya told us.
She should be proud. 14 years ago, she decided to pay it forward by launching the nonprofit Sweet Dreams for Kids. Since it began, the charity has collected more than 30,000 new pajamas for kids in hospitals across the world.
“It just make me happy and smile,” Dalya told us.
In her world, kindness goes a long way. Beachwood High School principal Paul Chase says having Dalya at school is a true honor.
“When I heard her story, her story is an inspiration to all of us," Chase said.
Earlier this month, the school held a pajama drive to help Sweet Dreams for Kids.
"She takes the resiliency and turns it into charity and, it's hope for all of us. So, it's beyond an honor," Chase said.
Dalya says sweet dreams for kids lets them know they're not alone.
“(There are) other people out there that are thinking about them and care about them," she said.
"(The pajamas) brings a piece of home to the kids that have to be in the hospital because they're new and they're cute and they're cozy," Wendy said.
Despite already reaching children in nearly all 50 states and seven different countries, Dalya says she has no plans of stopping her philanthropy.
For more information on Sweet Dreams for Kids, click here.
Editor's Note: The following video is from a previous, unrelated report.
MORE HEARTSTRINGS:
SOT: (WENDY AND DALYA) 2:59-3:37 “So just looking at her, I'm just, I just am so proud. I just love her so much.”
VO: LINDSAY BUCKINGHAM …3 NEWS.