Teen Shriners Ambassador inspires, promotes awareness for other patients

After fundraising for years and being an unofficial ambassador for the Shriners Children™ in Pennsylvania, Liette Brown is now an official ambassador for the hospital where she had back surgery in 2018.

Brown was diagnosed with scoliosis and had surgery several years ago. Since then she has been reaching out to patients and raising funds through various projects for Shriners.

Last year she was an unofficial patient ambassador at the Wyoming Shrine Bowl in Casper. This year, she was again an unofficial ambassador to start Shrine Bowl week, but completed the paperwork to be an official Shriners ambassador by the end of the week.

At last year's Shrine Bowl, she said she did a lot of speeches and this year she was more "the face of Shriners."

"I talked to all of the football players about the impact that Shriners has had on my life. I was one of five patient ambassadors there this year," she said.

Brown added, "It was super fun talking to the players. They get to ask questions about Shriners and about my experience."

Brown met with the players on Monday, June 3, and then returned on Friday morning to attend the banquet and then the game on Saturday.

Brown, 17, will be a senior this fall at Worland High School. She said as an official ambassador Shriners has "absolute permission to use my face or name in newsletters and information."

She said when she was first asked to be a patient ambassador "I was really young and I didn't want all the attention and then I accidentally became it. I am grateful for it all; I am excited that I did it. I've helped a lot of kids."

She said four days after her surgery in 2018, she said she was bored but wanted to do something to give back to the people who "basically saved my life."

"The more I fundraised the more people started seeing me," she said, noting she has conducted or helped with fundraisers in Wyoming, in Pennsylvania where she had her surgery, across the country and world.

Brown said she first got noticed after attending the Shriners Club in Thermopolis to speak on her experience and the club put her face in Shriners newsletter and then she was eventually asked to go to the Shrine Bowl.

Recently completing a pop tab fundraiser, Brown is working on another idea with a gentleman from New York, whom she has worked with before.

On top of fundraising, Brown also sponsors children going into surgeries by providing care packages and giving them tips and tricks for pre- and post-surgery. She said she has sponsored about 60 kids throughout the entire Shriners world including the United Kingdom, Africa and Europe.

She said she helps or conducts two to three fundraisers per year and they are currently looking at either a toy drive or hospital gown drive as one of the big drives this year.

Brown also is involved with a scoliosis support group where she meets "kids similar to me. It's a positive support group," adding that a majority of those in the group are also Shriners patients.

Regarding the Shrine Bowl, Brown said, "It's important for people to know how big the Shrine Bowl is for the Shriners patients. The football players are amazing to do this. They aren't playing for themselves, they are playing to help a life.

"It's important for Shriners kids, the fundraising helps them tremendously."