Arlington Heights teen enjoys big success of Littlest Hero

Born premature and drug-addicted, the odds were rarely in Felicia Reinhard's favor.

And that could be why she doesn't put much stock in what is expected out of a 17-year-old girl from Arlington Heights.

"I have always heard, 'You are too young. What do you think you can do?" says Reinhard. "You know, you can really do anything at any age if you put your heart into it."

Last year, at 16, Reinhard put her heart into an idea to bring free photography to families with young children who have serious health concerns.

The idea has sprouted into an organization helping more than 100 families and consisting of more than 700 volunteer photographers in the U.S. and abroad.

It is The Littlest Heroes Project.

"With things like this, you don't have to wait until you are 40 or 50 to start having an impact on people," says the Buffalo Grove High School student.

The stunning growth in her charity group came through Internet social-networking sites, word-of-mouth and the equal dedication of volunteers, who are photographers donating their services to families at home and in hospitals.

The project has reached scores of people with the same interests as Reinhard, yet live hundreds of miles away.

Lindsey Turner, 28, joined last summer from Charlotte, N.C. She spent years working with special needs children and has a passion for photography.

"It really gave me an avenue to combine my gifts," says Turner, who came across the group while surfing the Web.

Turner has completed one assignment with a family living about 150 miles from her in North Carolina. The family's 3-year-old boy was surviving with spina bifida and other complications and the mother wanted photos of him with his grandfather, who was in failing health. She drove to their home, spent time getting to know them and then took pictures of the family playing in their yard.

"It was an awesome experience," Turner said.

For those on the other side of the lens it is equally awesome, says Amber Baker of Fort Wayne, Ind. who had a volunteer photographer visit her daughter, Grace, in the hospital after open-heart surgery in March.

Baker wanted the experience documented because of how significant the surgery was for her family and her daughter, who has struggled with health problems since birth.

"It was a big deal, so we wanted to be able to look back and see it in a more beautiful way than what we may have felt at the time," she said. "The way they captured everything was perfect - it was beautiful."

Taking pictures is not something parents in such situations can spend much time thinking about let alone saving for, Baker added.

Those are exactly the feelings Reinhard was hoping to spread when she started The Littlest Heroes Project.

She devotes numerous hours a week to running the Web site, promoting the project and organizing visits. Reinhard also uses money she earns from her own photography business, Felicia Renee Photography, to pay for the Web site and fuel volunteers' need to get to their assignments.

The high school senior has herself struggled with health concerns her whole life. She identifies with the families and children she hopes to help.

"I know what it is like," she says. "I don't take life for granted."

To this day Reinhardt has sinus problems and attends physical therapy for her knees and ankles.

But she says, "I would never want to not be doing what I'm doing. The positives always outweigh the stresses."

Reinhardt hopes the project continues to expand and she plans to make it an official nonprofit in the near future so it can accept donations.

"I hope that someday it can be a big organization and a big thing," she says. "That would be exciting."

To Baker and Turner, The Littlest Heroes Project is already a big thing.

"To be able to look back at her surgery and see it as something beautiful, something she survived, and have those memories," Baker remarks, "what a gift."