Hats off to 13-year-old Max Faneuff of Rye, New York. Last year, the eighth-grader helped spread hope to ill children at Westchester Medical Center by presenting them with "Hats of Hope"- baseball caps with messages of hope and inspiration inside the hat and the word "hope" embroidered under the brim. Some of the hats even feature an inscription from singer Debbie Friedman's version of the Jewish prayer for the sick, Mi Shebeirach. A portion of the proceeds from Hats of Hope goes to organizations offering hope, including Hadassah and Chai Lifeline.

Max raised the money for the hats as part of his bar mitzvah project; he posted signs and fliers in his synagogue and placed a note about the project in each of his bar mitzvah invitations. "Delivering the hats was truly an inspiring experience," Max recalls. "The reactions from the kids were just priceless."