
March 31, 2006
Seeing Life Clearly
11-Year-Old With Vision Trouble Raises Money To Rebuild Katrina-Ravaged Libraries
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Play CBS Video Video Kelsie Buckley Follow-Up Bob Schieffer sat down with the amazing 11-year-old girl, who is finding success in her drive to raise money for libraries devastated by Hurricane Katrina.
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Video A Very Special Girl Steve Hartman has the story of a young girl whose family lost everything in Hurricane Katrina but is giving her all to help rebuild local libraries.
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Video Assignment America Viewers can decide where to send correspondent Steve Hartman on his next assignment.
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(John Filo/CBS)
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Kelsie Buckley, age 11, is a one-girl fundraising team for Misssissippi librairies that were devastated by Hurricane Katrina. (CBS)
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Quiz Your Eyes In Focus Dr. Mallika Marshall dispels some misconceptions about what causes your eyes to fail. See how much you know.
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Interactive After The Storm The road to recovery for the people and places along the storm-ravaged Gulf Coast.
That someone is 11-year-old Kelsie Buckley, who raised more than $9,000 in pledges for Gulfport's library by riding her horse halfway across the state of Mississippi.
"This fundraiser she put on for the libraries was just amazing," says Barrett.
"I just wanted to help," says Kelsie, who's planning more fundraisers — just for libraries.
Why libraries? "Books help you get your mind off of any bad things that are going on," she says.
Kelsie would know more than a little about bad things. She and her parents lost their home in the storm, too. They now live in a FEMA trailer. Her reaction: "We need to focus on the other people who need our help."
Obviously, selfless doesn't begin to describe her.
To learn more about Kelsie's Books, or to make a donation visit:www.kelsiesbooks.net
Kelsie's goal is to raise $10,000 for every Mississippi library destroyed by Katrina. There were seven. That's $70,000 — a lot of books, especially for a girl who may never get to read a single one of them.
Kelsie has lovely brown eyes, but they don't work well. "The left eye is just, blah," she says, and the right one is no better. That's because she has a rare disease that sometimes gets better — but usually gets worse, often ending in total blindness. To which she says: enough about that.
"She doesn't want to worry about the what-ifs," her mom says. "Of course it bothers her. But she says it takes the enjoyment out of today if you worry about tomorrow."
For now, all Kelsie cares about is saving as many libraries as she can and reading as many books while she can. Her foundation, Kelsie's Books helps raise money for large-print books.
Will Kelsie be angry if she goes completely blind and can't see any more books? No way. "I won't be mad," she says. "I might cry a little. But I'll keep on going."
If only we could all see life so clearly.
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