Lily Fenner, who will start fifth grade this fall, loves playing soccer and tennis. She’s excited to start a new basketball season with her friends. She attends Jefferson County Open School in Lakewood and is looking forward to attending her second school camping trip this year.
Starting in kindergarten, Lily has participated every year in the Kids Heart Challenge through the American Heart Association. Over the years, she has raised close to $20,000. In 2026, she raised her highest amount yet: $8,000, the largest amount raised during the Kids Heart Challenge in the entire state of Colorado.
For Lily, she is proud of the fact that she has been the number one fundraiser in the state for a couple of years running, but not just because she’s number one. She hopes she can raise the bar and inspire other people to raise more money to support her cause. She also hopes more schools offer the challenge to their students.
Students who participate in the challenge can earn key chains, jump ropes and T-shirts, depending on how much money they raise. One big motivation for kids at Lily’s school is the opportunity to color blast the gym teachers with chalk in front of the entire school if they raise more than $100.
“In the beginning, that was the motivation,” Lily Fenner said. “Now, I’m realizing that I’m helping other kids, which is much more important.”
For Lily, fundraising is personal. She underwent open-heart surgery when she was 3.
After a visit to physician assistant Brittany Schaffer at Lutheran’s Pediatrics West, Schaffer noticed that something was off with Lily’s heart.
“She’s our hero,” Lily Fenner said.
Schaffer helped discover that Lily had a heart condition called coarctation of the aorta with a bicuspid aortic valve.
Lily’s family felt fortunate that they had great health insurance and were able to receive care at the Mayo Clinic in Minnesota for Lily’s treatment.
One of Lily’s main motivations is to raise money to help kids whose families aren’t as fortunate and may not be able to afford heart surgery. The money raised also goes toward scientists researching and developing treatments for heart disease.
Lily learned that sharing her own story about her heart surgery inspires others to donate to the cause.
“Each year, I’m raising more money and helping other kids, which feels really good,” Lily Fenner said.
Fundraising isn’t easy, but she has her strategies. She first asks relatives, then neighbors. She also feels lucky that her parents have a lot of friends to ask.
“It’s still a bit of a challenge, but it feels really good to know that you’re helping people,” Lily Fenner said. “Each year, I’m understanding more about what I’m doing.”
Through fundraising, she has learned the importance of thanking donors. When she was just in second grade, she made Taylor Swift-inspired bracelets and gave them to everyone who donated to the fundraiser.
“In my third-grade year, we realized that for a lot of people, it feels good to be recognized,” Lily Fenner said.
During her third-grade year, she made custom thank-you videos for people who donated. In fourth grade, she wrote a rap about the American Heart Association with her dad and sent it to donors.
“My wife and I are just incredibly proud of her,” Jesse Fenner said. “For Lily, at a young age, to take her story and lean into it to help other people, it’s an incredible thing to learn at her age.”
During the challenge, students also participate in Finn’s Mission, where they learn hands-only CPR and the signs of a stroke. Lily points out that the training has saved at least one life so far.
Lily will begin fundraising for the next Kids Heart Challenge in early 2027, with the fundraiser ending around March.
“It’s inspiring to see that no matter who you are: young, old, big, small, Lily’s making an impact,” Jesse Fenner said. “Anyone can take their story and make an impact if they have the courage and the desire to help other people.”
