Riley fundraiser has campus ties
On Sunday, students will help Riley Hospital for Children in Franklin College’s first Riley’s Race for Awareness. For some students, Riley is more of a memory than just a good cause.
With Franklin’s 1,018 students, some were once patients at Riley. One of those students is Katie Holland, a sophomore majoring in secondary education.
Holland was a patient at Riley when she was two years old. She had a condition called Strabismus, where the muscles around the eye do not work properly. The doctors at Riley decided that surgery was the best option for Holland.
Today, at age 20, Holland said that the surgery was a complete success. She said she remembers a few details about Riley and how much it helped her.
“Everyone was so nice all of the time … it was always a really calming place,” Holland said. “You don’t feel like you’re in a hospital.”
Dalene Byrum, a junior journalism major, is also a former Riley patient. Byrum was a Riley patient at just three days old, and was in the hospital on and off until the time she was 12.
Byrum was allergic to her own blood, and in order to fix the problem, the doctors at Riley had to take out her blood, filter it and put it back into her body. Despite these difficulties, Byrum remembers the good side of being at Riley. She said she remembers that instead of using wheelchairs, Riley uses little red wagons. She also remembers the doctors at Riley and how they make the children feel involved in the process of their treatment.
“They were really nice … the people there are so amazing,” said Byrum.
Thanks to Byrum’s experiences at Riley, she is now considering becoming a public relations professional at a hospital after she graduates.
She’s not the only student who wants to give back. Amanda Fletcher, Rachel Friedman, Natasha Merrick, Tiffany Tibbot and Carrie Trommater put together Race for Riley through their leadership class. All five of the students said they were passionate about helping children and that they wanted their leadership project to center around that.
The group decided that Riley, located in Indianapolis, would be the perfect hospital to raise money for. The event they have organized consists of a scavenger hunt that will take participants across Franklin College’s campus. All of the proceeds from the event will be donated to Riley.
The winners of the scavenger hunt will be joining the leadership group in delivering the donation to Riley and taking a tour of the hospital.
“We’re going to get a firsthand look at what Riley does not only for the children, but for their families as well,” Trommater said.
Riley’s Race for Awareness will start at 1 p.m. on Franklin College’s Dame Mall and will last until approximately 3 p.m.
