Morgan Keely is only 20 years old, but she has already been running Morgan's Magical Ears, a 501(c)(3) nonprofit, for eight years. Her instinct for compassion actually kicked in much earlier than that.

"I was born completely deaf," she explains. After a misdiagnosis and futile attempts with hearing aids, Keely had surgeries (at ages 1 and 3) for bilateral cochlear implants, attended Clarke Schools for Hearing and Speech through kindergarten, and was in speech therapy through fifth grade.

More surgeries would follow (a total of 10 for the implants). She was six when she had her sixth surgery and became sick from a reaction to the anesthesia. It was then that one act of kindness inspired her.

"I got a little gift basket, maybe from one of the nurses," she recalls. "It was filled with silly little things like a plushie, coloring book, and silly bands. It made me feel so good that I wasn't even thinking about being sick."

On the way home after being discharged, Keely asked her mother if they could give gifts to other youngsters in the hospital, and Morgan's Magical Ears was born. They bought ten small plastic buckets, filled them with gifts (a coloring book, a crayon or marker, a snack, a toy, and Woofi the Missionary Puppy, who had Velcro ears that revealed Bible verses), and made bedside visits to recovering kids.

Her idea soon earned her national recognition. She was named a Hasbro Community Action Hero and was featured in MetroKids magazine when she was eight.

Fast forward to today and Keely estimates that she has delivered about two thousand gift buckets to children recovering from surgery. A member of the women's lacrosse team, she raises money through her website and by selling funny cakes – a Pennsylvania Dutch treat similar to shoofly pie – at the annual Community Day in East Greenville-Pennsburg.

She intends to keep going.

"I love seeing their smiles," she says. "I turned something that could be sad into a gift. Just because you have a disability, you don't have to accept it. You can push through it."

A nursing major, Keely believes that her experience with deafness will help her be a better nurse.

"When I go into a hospital for clinicals, it helps me understand my patients more. I see beyond the numbers to treat the people and have more insight into how they're feeling."