Today, 11-year-old Kye Masino and 12-year-old Peyton Rudisill of KYE-YAC International in Hot Springs presented a $10,000 donation to Arkansas Children’s Hospital.
A check presentation was hosted in the front lobby of ACH, with several notable attendees, including 2009 ?American Idol? winner Kris Allen and Governor Mike Beebe.
Masino is founder of KYE-YAC International, a non-profit organization aimed at involving youth in philanthropy. Rudisill is a KYE-YAC board member. Masino first began raising funds for the hospital through his school. He decided he wanted to do more to help other kids his age, and with help from his mother, he started KYE-YAC. The name for the non-profit is a combination of Masino’s first name and an abbreviation for Youth Advisory Council.
The $10,000 donation to ACH will help fund programs in the Child Life and Education department, which addresses the emotional, social, educational and recreational needs of hospitalized children and adolescents.
?I feel very fortunate in life and I really believe all kids deserve a good life,? says Masino. ?I want to do my part to make that happen, while encouraging my friends and others our age to do the same.?
Kris Allen, the Conway native and ?American Idol? winner, heard about KYE-YAC and wanted to participate in and encourage KYE-YAC’s efforts. Prior to the check presentation, Allen, Masino and Rudisill visited with ACH patients in the hospital’s main playroom, Camp Wannaplay.
Arkansas Children’s Hospital is the only pediatric medical center in Arkansas and one of the largest in the United States serving children from birth to age 21. The campus spans 28 city blocks and houses 316 beds, a staff of approximately 500 physicians, 80 residents in pediatrics and pediatric specialties and more than 4,000 employees. The private, nonprofit healthcare facility boasts an internationally renowned reputation for medical breakthroughs and intensive treatments, unique surgical procedures and forward-thinking medical research – all dedicated to fulfilling our mission of enhancing, sustaining and restoring children’s health and development. ACH recently ranked No. 85 on FORTUNE 100 Best Companies to Work For?.
For more information, visit www.archildrens.org.
