B.C. girl uses chore money to buy and donate the toy she always wanted

"I really want someone to feel loved." Adam finds out how one girl was inspired to make five strangers have a merrier Christmas.

SAANICH, B.C. — From the moment she first saw the dollhouse toy from her favourite TV show, Prairie Rose Steinman started asking her mom to buy it for her.

“Every birthday and every Christmas it landed on the list,” Kirsten Steinman says. “It was right there on the top.”

But every year, it was just too much for their budget.

Although Prairie Rose felt sad and disappointed, the now eight-year-old says she tried to be grateful for what she did have instead.

“We know we want something,” Prairie Rose says. “But we have to focus on what we have and need.”

But then, that day she and Kirsten were focused on shopping for their other family members, Prairie Rose spotted a Christmas hamper and a sign asking for donated toys.

When the girl asked what it was for, Kirsten explained that some children in the community may not get toys for Christmas.

“And you could see something clicked (in her),” Kirsten says.

“And I was like, ‘Oh! I want to do something like that,” Prairie Rose says.

So, the then seven-year-old asked her mom if she could spend the money she’d saved from doing her chores to buy, not just something special for someone else, but the dollhouse she’d always wanted.

“If I gave something that I really wanted, someone would feel loved,” Prairie Rose says. “(I hope) it feels like giving a very warm hug for them.”

So, she bought it. And after holding the dollhouse box she’d dreamed of having for years, dropped it in the donation box.

“It was super emotional for me,” Kirsten says. “I was humbled.”

Kirsten was so inspired by Prairie Rose’s generosity, she returned a coat she’d bought for herself, so she could buy four more dollhouses to donate to the Santa’s Anonymous charity to help kids in need.

“That’s what Christmas is all about,” Kirsten says of her decision. “So, let’s go and do it.”

So, they did. And although that meant Prairie Rose wouldn’t get a dollhouse of her own that Christmas, she did finally get one for her birthday.

“And that was very exciting,” Kirsten recalls with a smile.

But it can’t compare to preparing to donating another gift this year.

“It’s sharing the hope and the peace that Christmas is all about,” Kirsten smiles.

Because the feeling Prairie Rose says she remembers most in her heart, is not the getting, but the giving.

“It feels like my heart is having a dance party,” Prairie Rose smiles, before demonstrating by laughing and dancing in her chair.