Anna And Elsa's Special Story Time Exceeds Fundraising Goal

BOSTON (CBS) - Anna and Elsa look-a-likes from the Disney movie, "Frozen" paired up for a special fundraiser and they exceeded their goal.

Elsa, whose real name is Samantha Steinhage, started the story time sessions back in the spring when coronavirus forced many parents to start working from home and kids to stay home from school. She posted the idea on social media and hundreds of families from all over have been tuning in.

Each family has the option to make a donation which goes toward helping people through the pandemic. She's raised thousands of dollars so far. The money has gone to food banks, flowers for Berkshire Medical Center and meals for health care workers on the front lines.

Last Saturday, June 13, WBZ-TV's own Anna, Anna Meiler, joined Elsa for a special story time to raise money for Boston Children's Hospital.

Anna read one of her favorite childhood books, "The Little Engine That Could," to share the positive message that if you believe in yourself, you can do anything.

More than 280 families signed up to watch with some kids tuning in all the way from New York City and Pennsylvania.

Meiler and Steinhage met in May when WBZ reported on the rise of Elsa's story time online. Meiler's resemblance to the movie character led the two to pair up for Saturday's special event, which ended up raising $3,600 for the hospital, well above their $2,000 goal.

Elsa's next story time is this Saturday, June 20 at 5:30 p.m. to raise money for the Joe Andruzzi Foundation.

You can find more details here.