Log in to WRAL.com with one click using your favorite social network:
OR
Log in using your WRAL.com account:



Wrong email/password combination.

Forgot password?

Register with WRAL.com using your favorite social network:
OR
Register for a WRAL.com account using our web form.

9:44 a.m. • 5-19-13

Weather Forecast for Raleigh

  • Today: Thunderstorm.
    • Hi: 78° F
  • Mon: Thunderstorm.
    • Hi: 76° F
  • Tue: Thunderstorm.
    • Hi: 81° F

Other Locations

> 7 Day Forecast

Doppler Image

Published: 2012-12-18 22:19:00
Updated: 2012-12-18 23:29:16

Fayetteville girl sells hot cocoa to warm soldiers' holidays


Lacey Henry
Lacey Henry
print friendly

At 11, Lacey Henry has endured more than most people do in a lifetime.

Her two little brothers are battling cancer. Her father is stationed in Virginia with the Army. She and her family spend countless nights at UNC Hospitals in Chapel Hill.

Yet the Fayetteville girl is always thinking of others, especially during the holiday season. When she thinks about soldiers, like her father, she reflects on the sacrifices they make to accomplish their missions.

Lacey has a mission of her own: Remember every single soldier with what she calls Operation Single Soldier.

"I know soldiers in Iraq and Afghanistan, they're probably overwhelmed with presents," she said Tuesday. "But the soldiers at Fort Bragg, they're probably forgotten about."

So, Lacey started selling hot chocolate to Fayetteville residents. She's using the money to make gift bags, filled with trinkets and sweets, for the Fort Bragg soldiers working Christmas Eve and Christmas Day.

"I wouldn't want to have to work on Christmas, especially standing out in the cold all day," she said.

She and her family have relied on help from the community during cancer treatments for Lacey's brothers – 6-year-old Collin, who is undergoing chemotherapy for leukemia and 8-year-old Patrick, who is in remission after stage 2 liver cancer.

Now, she's giving back.

"She's a great kid. She's got a good heart. She's always doing something nice," said Lacey's mother, Kathleen Henry. "She's always thinking of someone else."


19 Comments


WRAL.com welcomes your comments on this story. All comments are moderated prior to publication based on our posting guidelines. Please review them prior to posting and if your message is not approved.

View Comments VIEW ALL 19 COMMENTS

This story is closed for comments. Comments on WRAL.com news stories are accepted and moderated between the hours of 8 a.m. and 8 p.m. Monday through Friday.

Latest Comments
ok

Good for her! Keep up the good work! Mom and dad must have taught her well. Such a selfless little girl who is thinking about others. We need more people like her in our community! We could learn a lot from her! God bless this wonderful family!

Looks like crumps brother needs to be taught what life is really about for its losers like him who make this world as sick as it is. Get a life dude and I feel sorry for your family.

This is the kind of news I like to hear: GOOD NEWS! Thank you, WRAL for finding something positive to report on.

Good for her. Funny how adults teach children the physical side of things and how to survive the illusion. When it should be the other way around, we should be learning from the children the real truth and how to survive which we adults lost as we grew older.

View Comments VIEW ALL 19 COMMENTS