12-year-old repaired 114 stuffed animals for children who lost homes in fires

A trip to a thrift store can often end with an impulse purchase or two, but for one 12-year-old girl in North Carolina, finding discarded stuffed animals became the beginning of a much bigger mission. Instead of seeing worn-out toys as things that had reached the end of their lives, the young girl saw something that could be repaired and given a second chance. Over time, she collected 114 stuffed animals from thrift stores, cleaned and repaired them by hand and eventually donated them to children who had lost their homes in fires.Her story, shared by the American Red Cross on Instagram, offers a glimpse into how a simple idea by a child turned into an effort to bring comfort to other children during some of the most difficult moments of their lives.From thrift-store shelves to a child's handsStuffed animals are often among the belongings children attach to early in…