A Dublin teenager, Colusa Medical Center, and Glenn Medical Center joined together on Tuesday to help a Butte County family create a legacy for their late son.
Alina Randhawa, 16, created Project CHAP (Childrens Health Assistance Program) last year as a school project to aid families in Northern California who are carrying the burden of medical bills.
” Going into high school, I always knew I wanted to create something I was passionate about, either a club or an organization,” said Randhawa, the daughter of medical professionals. ” It was about that time that I was learning about the medical healthcare system and just how expensive medical care could be for the average American family.
Randhawa said that after learning that 13 percent of American children live in families that cant afford medical bills, she founded the Childrens Health Assistance Program as a club project and non-profit to raise money to assist the family of at least one child per year, while raising awareness and promoting positive change in the medical community.
Randhawa said the club chose to help Ethan McCoy, an 11-year-old boy on the Autism Spectrum, who was diagnosed on Aug. 24, 2020 of a rare pediatric brain cancer.
” He had three brain surgeries and underwent radiation and chemotherapy treatments at UC Davis,” Randhawa said. ” Throughout the year, my club and organization raised money for Ethans family through online hoodie sales. And from the generous people at Colusa Medical Center and Glenn Medical Center, we were able to receive a lot of donations.
Sadly, Ethan passed away just a few months after he was diagnosed, so on Tuesday, Randhawa and Colusa Medical Center decided to honor his spirit and courage by donating the proceeds of the fundraiser to the Ethan McCoy Memorial Scholarship Fund.
After a tough pandemic year for members of the healthcare industry, Amy Micheli, nurse practitioner at Colusa Medical Center, said meeting Randhawa renewed her faith in young people wanting to join the health care realm.
” I was so inspired by that, that we at Colusa and Glenn Medical Center wanted to donate to her cause,” Micheli said. ” When I went to her website and learned about the family she wanted to donate to, I became even more inspired.
On Tuesday, Micheli and Randhawa presented a $3,000 check to Joey and Stefanie McCoy as a way to honor Ethans memory. And as school gets underway for Randhawas junior year, the teenager said her club would now identify another family to help.
” This is my passion,” Randhawa said. ” This is what I want to do.
To learn more about Randhawas charity, visit projectchap.com.
Randhawa said she plans to continue her nonprofit organization through her senior year and college, but hopes to pass the torch to her younger brother and other dedicated youth to keep the club going in her high school.