Excerpt: syracuse.com

The guests invited to 16-year-old Dani Alderman’s Christmas party probably would have preferred to celebrate the holiday anywhere else.

It’s not because Alderman, a 16-year-old Skaneateles High School junior, isn’t popular or charming — in fact, she’s both. It’s because the teen chose to spend her Christmas throwing a party for all the children at the Golisano Children’s Hospital and their families.

Every Christmas, Alderman and her mother, Channel 9 news anchor Carrie Lazarus, spend the holiday helping a family in need. Last year, they approached the hospital about donating toys to the children. Hospital officials told them that they have more than enough toys but could use food. The cafeteria is open Christmas day, but the workers weren’t serving anything special for the holiday. Alderman decided to make that her Christmas Day cause.

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