By Kris Johnson

Sometimes you meet a person who makes you feel proud to be a human being.

When that person is only 10 years old, it’s

especially inspiring.

Several of us at the Association of Washington

Business had exactly that experience recently as we prepared for the lighting

of the 31st annual Holiday Kids’ Tree in the Capitol rotunda in Olympia.

Her name is Jayden Nelson, and she’s a dynamo.

When Jayden turned 8 years old, she used her birthday

money to buy toys for the young patients at Mary Bridge Children’s Hospital in

Tacoma. Since then she’s held bake sales, sold homemade candles and jewelry,

led spaghetti feeds, and has raised thousands of dollars to buy toys that can

bring comfort to children facing serious medical issues.

This year, Jayden can add “tree-lighter” to her

growing résumé as she flips the switch on the tree in the state Capitol

rotunda.

As the state’s business and manufacturing

association, AWB is proud to lead a number of statewide efforts. Perhaps the

most heartwarming is our job each December to coordinate the decorations and

lighting of the state’s holiday tree. Those decorations are always bundled up

after the new year and donated to a local children’s hospital.

In the past few years we’ve asked military and law

enforcement families to light the tree, which has been a powerful experience.

This year we decided to look for a child who exemplified the spirit of giving

and charity. When we learned about Jayden and her love for Mary Bridge, it was

an easy choice.

Jayden was inspired to give after her second-grade

teacher in the Lewis County town of Pe Ell read her a book about “Change

Makers.”

Jayden went home to tell her mom that she wanted to

be a change maker.

Her mom wasn’t sure what she meant, asking her if she

wanted to work in a coin factory.

“No mom!” she said. “I want to do good for the

world.”

A similar spirit has led Washington employers to

donate a total of $420,000 to the Holiday Kids’ Tree project over the last

three decades. Just before the annual tree-lighting ceremony, we give bags of

toys and checks to representatives from rural fire districts who distribute the

money to families in need. This year we were able to spread holiday cheer to

families across the state, from Camano Island to Chelan and Walla Walla.

It was particularly meaningful that one of the 19

rural fire districts receiving donations this year is in Jayden’s very own

hometown of Doty, in the woods of west Lewis County.

And speaking of trees, your state Capitol this year

was filled with the greenery of a 34-foot noble fir, donated by Weyerhaeuser

from its Vail Tree Farm near Rainier.

The tree was harvested from a small area that is

being cleared to make room for a series of wind turbines at the new

Skookumchuck Wind Farm. This 38-turbine project, a partnership between Puget

Sound Energy, Weyerhaeuser, TransAlta and RES, will generate 137 megawatts of

power — enough to power 48,000 homes. That will be a gift for generations to

come.

Christmas is always a special time for families and

children. Through the generosity of donors to the Holiday Kids’ Tree project —

and special young people like Jayden Nelson — the holidays will glow even

brighter across our Evergreen State.

Kris Johnson is president of the Association of Washington Business, the state’s chamber of commerce and manufacturers association.