An Olympic-sized passion

As soon as she stepped off the bus, hundreds of people were chanting her name, "Kaitlyn, Kaitlyn, Kaitlyn." Her thin Florida bones didn't feel the bite of the 30-degree Canadian weather; her adrenaline was pumping. The official Olympic running suit she was wearing didn't hurt either.

UCF freshman Kaitlyn Chana was one of 20 chosen by Olympic sponsor Coca-Cola to be an Olympic torchbearer. Chana carried the torch through Calgary on its journey to the 2010 Winter Games in Vancouver, getting to pass the torch off to Olympic athlete Shawn Johnson. Hundreds of children gathered to meet her, touch the torch and encourage her run while a band played "O Canada" at her arrival.

"It was one of those proudest moments," said Karen Chana, Kaitlyn's mom. "You're almost in tears it's so exciting."

Chana, who admits she's not much of a runner, practiced every day once she found out she would receive the honor. But all her practice led to some overexcitement the day of, when after four tries they finally got her torch lit.

"I took off running, and security had to tell me to slow down," she said with a smile.

Carrying the torch was her favorite part, mostly because it reminded her of what got her the honor in the first place.

"I have a flame within me, a passion to help others and carry this excitement into someone else's life," Chana said.

Coca-Cola chose Chana because of her outstanding charity work. Chana is founder and president of Love Letters: Random Cards of Kindness Inc., an idea she got in the eighth grade. The international charity creates inspirational homemade cards for children with life-threatening illnesses. Thousands of volunteers around the world send cards for Chana to distribute. She has sent 50,000 cards to children internationally.

She said she hopes that her volunteers will listen to her experience carrying the torch and put that same excitement she felt into the cards they make. And rather than have the cards say "get well," she wants them to include uplifting messages instead.

"We're their cheerleader, we're their backbone," Chana said.

Many parents haven't seen their child smile in weeks or months, until the moment a card is handed to them, Karen said. One child Chana remembered was a little girl who had just gotten out of surgery and loved princesses. Chana wore her crown as Miss Winter Park's Outstanding Teen and personally gave the girl a card. Even just getting out of surgery, the little girl's eyes beamed, she clapped and kicked her legs. Chana remembered the girl's mom.

"I could feel all the meaning and energy in the one 'thank you' from the mom," she said.

"If I've put a smile on someone else's face, if I've made a difference, I've done my job for the day," she said.