Knoxville High School Student Abi Vander Linden is bringing her passion for helping others to patients at Knoxville Hospital and Clinics through comfort bags.

Abi has seen the compassion of nurses firsthand and how cancer affects not only the patient, but their family. When her grandpa was diagnosed with brain cancer in April 2021, as heartbreaking as it was for her, she saw him accept the challenge and fight with a positive attitude. In the fall of 2024, Abi established her non-profit organization, Radiant, with its purpose of empowering individuals through service, education, and responsibility. Her first project has been partnering with KHC and making comfort bags for infusion patients.

Abi has been collecting items for the comfort bags through a donation site set up at Elite Dance by Nicole, where people can donate items to be included in the bags. She made her first delivery to KHC on January 13th. When receiving an infusion, patients can be at Knoxville Hospital and Clinics for upwards of four hours, so she wanted to provide a variety of items for the patient to find comfort and help pass the time. Items in the comfort bags include gum, mints, activity books, pens, journals, books, socks, blankets, lotions, chap stick, and water bottles—anything that one would find comforting during their time in the infusion center.

Abi’s inspiration to create Radiant was sparked two years ago when she began competing in pageants. Continuing her passion for helping others, Abi was recently crowned Miss Iowa Teen Volunteer, where the pageant was largely focused on volunteer and community involvement. Now through March, she will be holding several events and fundraisers throughout Knoxville and other local communities reaching as many people as possible. In March, she will be competing in the National pageant in Tennessee to be crowned Miss Teen Volunteer America.