One local youngster eschewed birthday presents in lieu of gifts aimed at helping others.
Before her recent 10th birthday party, Manelle Ayach of Ladner asked her mother if she could collect donations for the B.C.
Cancer Agency instead of receiving presents.
The little girl has had several family members stricken with the disease - she recently lost her grandfather, she has witnessed her aunt deal with a breast cancer diagnosis and her grandmother died of ovarian cancer just before she was born.
"I want to help the doctors with their research to help fight cancer," she told her mother. "We have had enough on our family."
Ayach collected more than $400.
