GASTON COUNTY, N.C. — A little girl in Gaston County has big goals, and she’s counting on some help from the community to make them happen.
When you first meet 10-year-old Kaisyn, she might offer up very few words. Instead, she likes for her artwork to do the talking.
"Just be creative," Kaisyn said.
Her mom says her reserved shyness is a symptom of her recent autism diagnosis.
“She has a really a hard time with people, with social cues just stuff like that," mom Meredith Bivens said.
Meredith Bivens said the good news is it hasn't held Kaisyn back.
“We had found someone who had a service dog for anxiety and she was like, 'Can I do a lemonade stand to raise the money?'" Meredith Bivens said.
Soon, Kaisyn had a goal of $10,000 to cover the cost of the service dog and the training that would follow.
But selling lemonade was just the start.
Anne Cloninger owns Nest and Canvas, an art studio in Gastonia. With help from Nest and Canvas, Kaisyn has a chance to sell personalized art pieces, customized bracelets and magnets along with her specialty lemonade.
"I’m like, 'You go girl!' Let's do something even cooler, and let’s sell art,” Cloninger said.
Kaisyn will get to sell her art and lemonade at a spaghetti dinner fundraising event this weekend. The dinner itself is $10, and Kaisyn will sell her artwork at the event.
“It’s just been awesome to see because it makes her proud when she’s sold some paintings," Meredith Bivens said. "Her words were, 'I didn’t know people could love me so much.'”
That love is helping Kaisyn get that much closer to her goal.
“Having that service animal that can bring her down, that can ground her," Meredith Bivens said. "That can just provide a sense of security for her.”
Meredith Bivens is hopeful that this will be even more than that -- potentially serving as a start to share more of what autism is all about, and help other kids just like Kaisyn.
“It’s amazing to hear a 10-year-old say, 'I want to help myself, I want to help my family, and then when I’m done I want to help other kids do the same thing,'” Cloninger said.
Those who can't attend the spaghetti dinner benefit but are interested in helping can donate directly to paypal.me/ kaisynkares.
Contact Briana Harper at bharper@wcnc.com and follow her on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.