Issue link: http://papercitymagazine.uberflip.com/i/907639
36 S tella Wrubel's bookshelves are stacked with classics I remember from my own childhood: Eloise, the Madeline series, Angelina Ballerina, The Secret Garden. Curled up in sitting chairs in her room, we bond over a shared love of reading as she shows me some of her current favorite things, including a large rock from a family trip to Italy (she named it Edgar) and this year's Halloween costume, sewn using her own Singer machine: the "Hocka-wolf," she calls it, a transforming werewolf partially fashioned from her Hockaday School uniform. Stella then reaches for another book, Iggy Peck Architect, exuberantly reciting excerpts about a toddler determined to prove that, despite his age, he can still show the world his talents. Like Iggy, Stella is petite in size but marvelously persevering, especially when it comes to philanthropy. In 2012, the then-six-year-old daughter of Dallas photographer Steve Wrubel and DJ Lucy Wrubel launched her own business, Jingle Bell Mistletoe, selling thickets of the evergreen plant wrapped in bows and bells every December in Highland Park Village. Stella's idea blossomed from her desire to make a difference as she watched Hurricane Sandy wreak havoc on New York, where her godfather lived. "I thought, 'I'm just a kid, so I can't do anything,"' she says. "Then my mom said, 'Have I taught you nothing? You're a kid, so you can do anything!'" Her fi rst year, Stella raised $2,000 for the American Red Cross. She collected $8,000 for the organization in 2013. In 2014, she recruited Quinn Graves, a friend she "played dragons" with on the swings during recess in second grade; he'd visited her mistletoe stands before and wanted to help. On advice from Stella's aunt, Katherine Perot Reeves, the duo donated $18,000 that year to the North Texas Food Bank, an amount that included corporate matches for its "$1 feeds 3 people" campaign. The numbers soar quickly from there, particularly due to the 2015 addition of two more Jingle Bell team members, Isabella Dickason and Trevor Godkin — the foursome raised $39,000 in 2015 and $37,000 last year. This month, which marks the sixth anniversary of Jingle Bell Mistletoe, Stella and her squad are aiming for $60,000. Their hope is that, eventually, kids are selling mistletoe in every county the NTFB serves. STELLA WRUBEL BY LINDEN WILSON. PORTRAITS TONY KRASH. AGE: 12. OCCUPATION: CHARITABLE WUNDERKIND. TOOLS OF THE TRADE: GENEROSITY. GOOD FRIENDS. LOTS OF MISTLETOE. GEN NEXT: Stella Wrubel