It’s difficult to pinpoint which of 13-year-old Melissa Robinson’s charitable endeavors is the most impressive.

Could it be her fund and awareness-raising efforts for Inflammatory Breast Cancer (IBC)? Perhaps. Her nationwide speaking engagements that address bullying at school? Maybe. Her homemade dessert creations that benefit literacy and book-buying campaigns? Could be. What about her relief efforts for earthquake and tsunami-ravaged Japan, or recent tornado victims in the southeast U.S.?

Actually, it’s all of them. Added to that is Robinson, a Tomball area home school student, carries a 4.5 GPA, is two grades ahead and has already set her sites on attending UC-Davis in California in order to study to become a veterinarian, or Purdue University, where she’s considering attending in order to do cancer research.

It all started when Robinson was 6 years old, living in California and attending schools when she witnessed her fellow students being relentlessly bullied. Rather than ignore the problem, Robinson decided to do something about it and began speaking out to students and parents.

Now seven years later, Robinson is being sought out by organizations across the country to speak out against bullying. Robinson and her mother, Daphne, called off the names of states they have visited like a grocery list: Arkansas, Georgia, California, Alabama, Florida and Maryland.

Pictured, Melissa Robinson speaks during a recent engagement in Baytown.

Submitted Photo

“When I speak, I try to tell them to ‘see it from your point of view,’” Robinson said. “I just hope they will go home with something more to think about.”

At around the same time her fledgling speaking career was getting started, Robinson was taking a cue from her aunt’s catering business and creating makeshift meals at home while her mother was away at work. But rather than cooking for herself or family, Robinson was helping to feed children around her neighborhood who otherwise may have had not meals.

“I would come home and all of my dishes and silverware would be gone,” Daphne said.

That love of cooking has evolved into Yummy In My Tummy, Robinson’s side non-profit business where she bakes cakes, fudge and cupcakes, which she pairs with organic coffee selections purchased from a seller in Arkansas.

The money Robinson raises helps support “Walk A Mile In My Shoes,” a literacy campaign that she also created that purchases books for local schools.

Yummy In My Tummy is no fly by night, amateur operation. Daphne said her daughter has filled more than 1,000 orders and recently provided more than 500 professionally-made “cupcakes in a jar” at a local wedding.

However, much of Robinson’s efforts focus on her campaign to raise awareness and money for research into IBC. In September, Robinson’s grandmother, Rosia Smith, unexpectedly passed away from IBC, a person Robinson said she was “very close” to.

Robinson’s biggest project is a planned black tie fundraising gala, set to be held in either New York or Los Angeles in May 2012. Tickets are expected to sell for between $500 and $1,000 each.

She hopes to utilize the money raised, along with a potential partnership with MD Anderson Cancer Center in Houston, to build a local camp or retreat for cancer patients, as well as a state-of-the-art cancer wellness center in North Houston.

As part of her cancer awareness efforts, Robinson also helps women pay for wellness exams that test for specific types of cancer.

All of her endeavors fall under the umbrella of her “Kids Rock Girl Power” campaign, which also has a website at kidsrockgirlpower.com. On the site, visitors can learn more about Robinson’s Yummy In My Tummy project and many of her other charitable efforts.

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