For the seventh year, a group of cousins made a big gift donation to the kids at Essentia Health’s Cancer Center in Duluth on Monday, December 23.

Every year they hold a bake sale to raise money to get gifts for the young patients and now the oldest cousin in the group, Maria Oppelt, also runs a cotton candy business, North Shore Sugar to help contribute as well

This is part of tradition to honor the legacy of their Great Uncle and Grandpa Johnny who passed away from cancer.

“He would see these kids in the waiting room struggling with the same things that he was, and just knowing how unfair it was that they were dealing with the same thing, he decided that he should start a movement to help take one thing off of the plate of the families that are in here for the holiday season, and just bring a little bit of joy to the kids that are here,” explained Maria, who is now a senior at Denfeld High School.

This year Maria and her cousins donated more than $1,000 worth of toys, gift cards, books and Cotton Candy from Maria’s own business.

“This is one of our biggest years, and we just hope that it gets bigger every single year after this,” Maria continued.