As Valentine's Day nears, one student at Arroyo Grande High School is helping to ensure that locals in need get to enjoy the festivities.
Sophia Ferreira's idea to help the community was sparked by a hardship she faced when she was just four years old.
"I had a rare bacterial infection in my hip and I had to be admitted to the emergency unit and [have] surgery," Ferreira said. "It was around a holiday, and I was all alone while my friends were out and having fun, and it was really difficult for me."
Years later, the teenager started a project to collect donations for the pediatric unit at Marian Regional Medical Center.
Ferreira assembled the community's donations of toys, coloring books, crayons, candy, and handmade Valentine's Day cards into gift boxes.
On Wednesday, she donated those boxes to the hospital.
The teenager says this was her first time organizing and fundraising a project of this scale by herself.
"It makes me feel really happy. I feel now that I'm doing it independently with my own time and resources, it makes it more special and personal to me," Ferreira said.
