Ruby Kate Chitsey started a
movement that's taken the world by
storm—or you could say, by heart.
It's called Three Wishes for Ruby's
Residents. The amazing 11-year-old
girl from Harrison, Arkansas wants
to do good, and she's raised nearly
$250,000 through her GoFundMe
campaign and charity Facebook page
to bring hope, joy and practical help to
low-income residents in nursing homes.
Ruby's mom, Amanda, is a nurse
practitioner who works in five nursing
homes in and around Harrison, and
Ruby often goes with her on weekends.
Many of the elderly residents in those
facilities don't have any family or
visitors. They can live in those homes
because of a government program
called Medicaid that provides meals and
basic care, but only $40 a month for
anything else. Forty dollars isn't very
much money if you need a haircut or a
cell phone or fresh fruit or someone to
bring your pet in for a visit.
That's where Ruby stepped in. She
noticed a patient named Pearl staring
out the exit doors at a dog being led
on a leash by a woman to a car in the
parking lot. Ruby asked her about
it, and Pearl said it was her dog that
she'd had for some 12 years. The lady
had brought the dog for a visit, and
Pearl watched her, not knowing when
she'd ever see her pet again. "Pearl's
face was so sad," Ruby explained in
her GoFundMe. "I thought of all the
things in this world Pearl could have,
she would probably just ask for more
visits with her dog. I know it costs $12
for a pet sitter visit. I'm 11, and I have
enough money saved in my piggy bank
to get Pearl a few visits with her dog."
And that's how "Three Wishes"
began. Ruby started going around
to the different residents to ask, "If
you could have any three things,
what would you want?" Ruby was
surprised at their answers. "I thought
people would say money, houses, a
Lamborghini," she told CBS News, but
instead they wanted simple things like
strawberries, pants that fit, Cheetos, a
phone.
Ruby and her mom have used the
donated funds to buy everything from
pillows to books to Happy Meals.
Ruby
with
Pearl
14 • Off icialKidsMag.com MAY 2019