KNOXVILLE, Ill. — 11-year-old Baylie Mayfield and her 6-year-old sister Harper have many passions.
From animals to taking care of others, they wanted to expand their opportunities to look out for those in need during the holidays.
"I realized how some kids might not get Christmas presents," Baylie said. "I thought like, oh my goodness, if I was a little kid, and I woke up and there weren't presents under the Christmas tree, I'd be so sad."
Four years ago, the duo started Junk 4 Jingles where they gather scrap metal to then be sold off. Their father, Eric, says he was surprised by what his daughters wanted to do with the money.
"They told me they wanted to use the money to buy presents for children off the Salvation Army Angel Tree," Eric said. "It was awesome to hear that and the only thing I could think of was how can we continue making that impact."
The angel trees have tags that would show not only what the children wanted for Christmas, but also what they need. It's what helped motivate the girls to continue working hard throughout the year.
"Some of the really nice people we've met in the community have been really supportive," Eric said. "We have longtime supporters that will have scrap metal for us that we will collect. Without them, we wouldn't be able to put smiles on people during the holiday."
With the holidays being 11 months away, Baylie says they'll be working hard to earn more money for their cause
"We definitely try to get the things that they want and a couple things that they need," Baylie said. "I'm not sure how long we will be doing this but we're just going to keep going until we say so."