On the day she officially became a teenager, Kelly teamed with her 9-year-old sister, Catherine, and their Saratoga cousins, Mara Couch, 11, and Claire Couch, 8, to hold a bake sale fundraiser in front of the home of Sheila and Mike Couch, located on Saratoga Avenue near Moran Lane.

They donated all proceeds, which amounted to $99.05, to St. Jude Children's Research Hospital, a nonprofit facility in Tennessee that treats children with life-threatening illnesses—especially cancer—at no cost to their families.

"We thought we'd give people a chance to get something on the way to work," Mara says of their 8:30 to 11:30 a.m. business hours. "One woman who stopped told us that she was a cancer survivor!"

"The girls got lots of honks and beeps and thumbs-up from people," says Sheila Couch, adding that the bake sale was "totally their own idea."

"I was really proud of them and that they stuck to it and pulled it off. It was great seeing them having fun while doing something for others," she adds.

Many drivers showed support in ways more tangible than simply honking their horns—such as pulling over and buying freshly baked chocolate chip or oatmeal raisin cookies, brownies, three different types of muffins and cups of cold juice, all of which sold for prices ranging from 50 cents to $1.

The treats weren't from a store, either, but were baked by the industrious cousins the day before. The girls also designed and colored their own signs. Funding for the ingredients came from a pool of Kelly's baby-sitting money, Mara's pet-sitting money and saved-up allowances from Catherine and Claire.

"We spent what seemed like three million hours on the baking," Kelly recalls, laughing. "We also made fudge, but we forgot to put it out."

Kelly says she was first inspired to hold a bake sale when she learned of Jesse Arbogast, the Mississippi boy whose arm was torn off and leg mauled by a shark in July 2001 at a Florida beach. Although his arm was reattached by surgeons, he remained in a coma for more than a month and sustained some brain damage due to massive blood loss. He is still physically and neurologically traveling the road to recovery.

A more recent inspiration, Kelly says, is the memory of Christian James Rosales, the son of one of her father's friends who died in infancy. Then she and Mara thought of St. Jude Children's Research Hospital.

"We decided the money would go to better use by an organization that helps lots of kids," Mara explains. "Kelly really likes St. Jude's, and we couldn't think of another organization that helps kids."

"I sort of want to make this an annual project. I'm very into helping kids who are sick," adds Kelly, who already knows she wants to work in the medical field—probably as a physical therapist.

Although Kelly says the bake sale was a rewarding enough way to spend her birthday, she ended up celebrating the traditional way as well, with a surprise luau-themed party thrown by her sister and cousins.

Donations can be mailed to St. Jude Children's Research Hospital, 501 St. Jude Place, Memphis, Tenn., 38105 or given online at www.stjude.org.