A young North Dublin girl has dedicated her time in lockdown to putting a smile on other children's faces and raising money for a very important cause with her innovative "Smile Sacks".
12-year-old Tara O'Moore Garland from Clarehall came up with her idea after her homework challenged her to think up a business idea.
Tara decided to put the Smile Sacks together with all the things that have helped her cope with the COVID-19 lockdown over the last year.
And not only have the Smile Sacks become a smash hit, she's now donating all the money to Temple Street Children's Hospital who have helped her throughout her life.
"I came up with the idea in February," she told Dublin Live.
"I was finding the lockdown really hard, so I was practicing mindfulness techniques to help me stay positive.
"Part of my homework from school was to come up with business ideas.
"I thought of useful things I enjoyed and used on a day to day bases, including fidget toys, colouring, and doodling in notebooks. I thought it would be beneficial for other children.
"And I decided that I wanted to raise money for charity so I started to make the Smile Sacks. "
Tara suffers with hypermobility in her joints, and regularly attends Temple Street for physiotherapy appointments.
She explained to us how the condition affects her day-to-day - and how ding school work from home was a bit of a blessing in disguise at times.
"Some of my joints bend backwards, my hands get tired really easily when I am writing and my joints pain me," she said.
"I have physiotherapy exercises that do at home.
"When I was doing my school work from home it was kind of easier because I did not have to try and write really fast."
Tara's Smile Sacks have already travelled Europe-wide, and the community have embraced her idea after a little leg up at the start from her grandparents to get things going.
"I made an Instagram page and I posted about the Smile Sacks.," she said.
"My first big order was for 20 smile sacks and that was for my Godmother Louise in Laois. My grandparents in Wexford [ordered] loads as well.
"We put an ad on the Clarehall residents page and people bought them as presents and sent them to places like London and Germany.
"I made around 75 Smile Sacks, they where six euro each and some people paid more for them because it was for charity. "
Tara set an initial goal of raising €500 for Temple Street, which she has already comfortably met.
But after a post on the Hospital's Facebook page opened up the idea to an even broader audience, she has been inundated with more requests.
And Tara says she'll spend her mid-term break fulfilling all of the orders she receives - and she'll enjoy doing it too.
"My initial goal was 500 euro, and I have raised and donated 500 euro to Temple Street hospital," she said.
"Since they put my fundraising project on their Facebook page , a lot more people want to order a smile sack. I have decided to make them over the midterm break for anyone that would like to buy one to raise more for Temple Street.
"My idea was not just to raise money for charity but to raise awareness for positive mental health for children.
"The lockdown is really hard on everyone and it's nice to be able to make people smile."
You can read more about Tara's story and the Smile Sacks here and you can order your own Smile Sack at the Instagram page, which you can find here.
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