Joy of Giving Lands Montville Twp. Girl on NBC’s ‘Today’ Show

Some of life’s moments spark the true meaning of unselfishness.

For Montville Township resident Ella Tryon, 10, her kindness campaign has not only helped many hospital-bound children over the years, but it has resulted in her being featured in the recently-released book, “Unselfish Kids,” by father and daughter authors Paul and Sammie Parkinson, of Utah.

On “Giving Tuesday,” Dec. 3, Ella and two other children featured in the book were recognized under the studio lights inside Rockefeller Plaza in New York City on NBC’s “Today with Hoda & Jenna” show.

The Parkinsons also appeared on the show to discuss “Unselfish Kids,” which, in addition to Ella’s story, features 39 other stories of kids who have performed acts of kindness in their communities or launched humanitarian projects.

Ella, who spent time as a patient at Rainbow Babies & Children’s Hospital in Cleveland a few years ago, decided after her stay that she wanted to give back in some way.

“She was admitted to a children’s hospital in Cleveland for gastrointestinal issues,” ‘Today’ co-host Hoda Kotb said on the show. “People would deliver toys, but all Ella wanted to do is to color with crayons. This made Ella think about other children in other hospitals. As a first-grader, she started a small campaign to collect crayons for children during their stay. After a few months, she had more than 2,000 boxes, so she kept raising her goal.”

Since starting her kindness initiative —a nonprofit organization called Help Me Color a Rainbow — Ella has collected more than 49,000 boxes of crayons for children’s hospitals, thanks to many contributions from generous Geauga County donors and several donors across the country.

Back in 2015, Paul Parkinson wrote a book “Unselfish,” which initiated this second book that focused, specifically, on elementary-aged do-gooders.

The Parkinsons spent a good portion of the last year and a half finding kids to feature in the book.

Tryon’s mother, Jackie, said the Parkinsons found them on Facebook and she was thrilled when they invited Ella to share her message to such a large audience in their newest book.

“There’s amazing kids in the world who are doing amazing things (and) we don’t hear about them that often,” Paul said on the show. “As we hear these stories, it inspires us, even as adults, not just the kids themselves, but it inspires the adults.”

Kotb leaned in and told viewers she loves Ella’s story.

“You were a little girl in a hospital and you turned out helping all these other children who were in hospitals,” Kotb said.

Sammie, 23, sat beside her father and said she could see the kindness in these children’s hearts.

“It’s led by example,” Sammie said. “Their parents are amazing and I think that’s how many people learn, by example, and it will make them do good things as well.”

When the show hosts asked Ella about her campaign, she said it was fun and she loves “just giving back to kids.”

“When I was in the hospital, I wanted kids to have crayons to color with ‘cause at least one other kid in the hospital wanted to color,” she said.

The young philanthropist was named one of “Cleveland Magazine’s 30 Most Interesting People 2019” and has inspired entrepreneurs and super star athletes more than three times her age.

“You are all teaching us it is better to give,” Co-host Jenna Bush Hager said.

Following the show, Ella said it was an amazing opportunity and she had a great time in New York City.

“Thank you to everyone that has believed in me so far,” she said. “I can’t wait to meet my goals.”