RENO -- A little girl's inspirational efforts to help others dealing with a terrible disease earned her a grant from Disney Channel to help her continue to try and make a difference.

Third grader Katelyn Rovig comes by her philanthropic roots honestly. With a mom who has worked in the Reno Non-Profit sector for years, she has seen firsthand how helping others in need can make a difference. When the nine year old saw an ad on TV for the Disney Channel’s Friends for Change program looking for grant requests from kids, Katelyn got to work and came up with the idea for “Hugs, Hats & Headbands.”

Much to Katelyn’s surprise, the Friends for Change program selected her grant request for funding, quickly launching Hugs, Hats and Headbands in Reno! Katelyn’s program, H3 for short, is being run entirely by a group of 1st – 4th grade girls at three local elementary schools with a goal of collecting new hats and headbands for children dealing with cancer in Nevada. As Katelyn says, “Every boy or girl deserves to look pretty or handsome!”

Starting Friday, April 20 through Friday, May 4th, Katelyn and her friends are asking the community to donate new, comfortable headbands and hats for kids between the ages of 0 – 18 who are dealing with cancer and have lost some or all of their hair due to their treatment. The goal of the group is to raise 500 hats or headbands although at a recent meeting, they got excited at the prospect of collecting 1,000!

“We want to show kids with cancer that they are loved and that we support them,” said Katelyn. “We are hoping that our program will make the kids who receive the hats or headbands smile, when they might be sad otherwise.”
H3 has also gained the attention of Nevada’s First Lady, Kathleen Sandoval. In a letter to Katelyn, Ms Sandoval wrote, “Your insight and hard work is making a difference in many people’s lives...and not just in those of sick children. Through the example you are setting, people of all ages can learn about helping others and the uplifting spirit of volunteerism. Positive thinking leads to positive outcomes!”

The Hugs, Hats and Headbands School Leaders will be making presentations to their respective schools starting this week, asking their fellow students to donate to the cause. Participating schools are Lenz Elementary in Reno, Hunsberger Elementary in Reno, and Sepulveda Elementary in Sparks but other schools and community members are encouraged to support this program too!

The Disney Grant is paying for the costs associated with setting up the program, including paying for school flyers and posters and Katelyn and her team have to submit a final report of their program’s success to Disney by mid-May.

After the H3 program has been completed, Katelyn will be working with the leaders from the Northern Nevada Children’s Cancer Foundation and Candlelighters Childhood Cancer Foundation in Las Vegas to make sure that the hats and headbands make it to the kids they are intended for. In Nevada alone, it is expected that 200 new children will be diagnosed with some form of cancer this year, and the typical treatment period for children is 2 – 5 years.
To learn more about the Hugs, Hats and Headbands program, please contact Kim Brown at 775- 685-6475 or Cari Rovig at 775-772-9720.