Mystic resident Ryan Brearley, a sixth grader at Sacred Heart School, is filling lots of hearts with joy this holiday season. For the fourth year, Ryan is collecting donations for children who are spending their holidays in local hospitals.

When he was in second grade, Ryan approached his parents and told them he wanted to help kids who were fighting cancer. He began collecting arts and craft supplies, small Lego sets and other small toys that can be easily played with on a tray table. For teenagers who are hospitalized, he collects gift cards, crossword puzzle books and decks of cards. Two years ago, Ryan also began collecting scented ChapStick after Connecticut Children’s Medical Center explained how it helped mitigate the smell of medicine when placed inside a face mask.

All of these efforts have been the idea and the hard work of this amazing young man. He’s organized donation boxes, sent letters home with fellow students, shopped for bargains, talked to local retailers about making donations and had the support of many friends, family members and local businesses.

With the support he’s received, Ryan has been able to expand the volume of his donation, and this has allowed him to expand to more hospitals. Last year he made donations to Connecticut Children’s Medical Center, Yale New Haven, L&M and St. Jude’s.

As Ryan continues to expand his efforts, he hopes to be able to collect enough donations to expand to Hasbro Hospital in Providence and Boston Children’s Hospital.

This year, Ryan’s story has touched the hearts of a local business, Kozlowski Orthodontics.

The Kozlowski team is helping aid Ryan in his efforts to collect and expand his donations. Their offices at 190 Hempstead St., New London, 156 Boston Post Road, East Lyme, and Mystic Westerly Orthodontics, 117 Cow Hill Road, Mystic, are serving as a drop-off location for donations.

Ryan is collecting donations of the following new items (used items cannot be accepted due to the compromised immunity of the patients): arts and crafts supplies, coloring books, markers, crayons, small games, card games, small Lego sets, cool socks or sippers, scented ChapStick, gift cards for older pre-teens, and nail and makeup sets.

Mary Estes is a treatment coordinator for Kozlowski Orthodontics. Kindness in Real Life is a regular feature in which we encourage writers to tell about kind acts being done in the community. To submit your own story and photos, email Lee Howard at l.howard@theday.com.