One former patient at a hospital is giving back to the same place where she was treated in the form of donations from her bracelet sales!
Hayley Orlinsky was a patient in the neonatal intensive care unit of the Ann & Robert H. Lurie Children’s Hospital of Chicago when she was younger. Now, seven years later, she is raising money for PPE for the frontline workers and patients’ families at that same hospital! And the way that she is doing that is by making rubber friendship bracelets.
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With the help of her mother, Hayley set up a fundraiser online and had an initial goal of $200. She priced her bracelets at $3 each or $5 for two. Well, let's just say that she blew her initial goal out of the water! To date, Haley has sold over 9,000 of her bracelets and raised over $23,000 for the hospital's COVID-19 fund!
“I couldn't believe it,” Hayley said. “It made me feel like I was doing something really important.”
From Patient At The Hospital To Donor Of $23k, Girl Gives Back
“Hayley has raised critical funds for Lurie Children’s to help us respond to the rapidly changing needs of the COVID-19 pandemic,” said Tracey McCusker, the Associate Director of Community Engagement at Lurie Children’s Hospital. “She has been an inspiration and a bright light for our staff, patient families, and community. We are so grateful for all of her hard work and support!”
It usually takes Hayley about two minutes to make each bracelet. But with them being in such high demand, she has had to enlist her younger sister, Ellie, and some of her friends to help with bracelet production.
Lori Orlinsky, Hayley's mother, is not the bit surprised by how much her daughter wants to help others. She said that her altruistic side grew a lot after she was made fun of in school for being the shortest student in the class.
“Because she was bullied, she is more empathetic to others who need help,” Lori explained.
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Well this second grader may be small, but her heart and compassion are big! Haley shared that she plans to keep on making bracelets and fundraising for the hospital until this pandemic is a thing of the past.
WATCH: Former Patient At Children’s Hospital Raises Funds With Bracelet Sales
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h/t: People