White House Author

Josie Grant, a high school senior, lives in Taneytown, Maryland. She is the current Capital District Division 9 Lieutenant Governor for Key Club International, the Kiwanis International program for high school students. Motivated by her young cousin's illness, visiting other family members in hospitals and seeing pediatric patients in such a quiet and serious place, at age 13 she developed the idea for her own foundation, Josie's Smiles for Pediatrics, in hopes of making pediatric patients smile. In 2008, Josie made her first donation, collecting more than $2,100 worth of items for pediatric patients at Carroll Hospital Center in Westminster, Maryland. Through Josie’s Smiles for Pediatrics, she has coordinated the donation of more than $26,000 worth of items to the hospital. She has also inspired the involvement of others, including thousands of dollars worth of items from her fellow members in Key Club.