WPEC-TV – Kayla Cares 4 Kids Stronger than Ever for Sick Children During the Coronavirus Outbreak
March 26, 2020 5:40 pm
Click here to watch the video.
North Palm Beach (CBS12) — Kayla Abramowitz turned 18 this week, after a childhood that included way too much time in the hospital. The North Palm Beach resident is battling several autoimmune diseases, but has turned that into a positive with her charity ‘Kayla Cares 4 Kids’. It’s something she’s now had to *revamp* because of the coronavirus Outbreak.
“When you’re in the hospital, it can be super boring (and) super lonely,” says Abramowitz. “It’s very isolated, which is how a lot of us are feeling now.”
It’s why Abramowitz created ‘Kayla Cares 4 Kids’ when she was just 11 years old. Her original goal was to collect 100 DVDs for Nicklaus Children’s Hospital. The charity has since been celebrated for distributing over 25-thousand DVDs, books and video games to every Children’s Hospital and Ronald McDonald House in the country.
“When you have something like a book or a movie or a video game, it can just give you this little world that you transport yourself into just for a short amount of time, to get your mind off of the pain, of the needles, off of everything.”
Kayla is battling Crohn’s Disease, Juvenile Arthritis and Eosinophilic Colitis, which is a a swallowing disorder. She understands why hospitals are currently not excepting outside items because of coronavirus. So this week ‘Kayla Cares 4 Kids’ has gone virtual.
“I will make videos of me reading books,” explains Abramowitz. “I have volunteers lined up that will be reading books as well. I will also be doing tutorials on how to do different arts and crafts that are easy to do while you’re in a hospital bed.”
It’s a new opportunity for Kayla to connect personalty, while isolated herself with a compromised immune system.
“I’m sure it will grow into something that we never even imagined could happen, and it will be a whole new way to connect with kids. I’m so excited to see their reaction when all of this is over we can do the stuff that we planned before.”
Kayla has renamed this new program ‘Kayla Cares 4 Kids Virtual Fun’. If you’d like to learn more, or donate to ‘Kayla cares 4 Kids’, check out the website.
By John Evenson