11-Year-Old Girl Makes 'Wishes' Come True For Nursing Home Residents

This little girl is dedicated to granting ‘wishes’ to nursing home patients

An 11-year-old girl in Arkansas is making it her mission to help improve the lives of nursing home residents. She’s even started her own charity to help provide them with “extras” that they request every month. And it’s the most heartwarming thing you’ll read today.

Ruby Chitsey started going to work with her mom, Amanda, a nurse who travels to different nursing homes in the area. During one visit in particular, she started going up to different residents with a notepad in hand, asking them if they could have “any three things” — what would they be.

“I was very surprised. I thought people would say money, houses, a Lamborghini,” Ruby tells CBS News. Instead, they asked for things like electric razors, new shoes, other basic items, and Vienna sausage.

“Like, that’s all they wanted. And I really decided that I needed to do something,” Ruby says. So she got to work and began a charity called “Three Wishes for Ruby’s Residents.” There’s even a GoFundMe page set up for the cause.

According to the fundraiser page, the main goal of “Three Wishes for Ruby’s Residents” is to help thousands of nursing home patients who are “low on family and low on funds.” It’s heartbreaking and uplifting at the same time.

“The government funds over half of our nursing home patients in the U.S.,” the page states. “These patients are allotted $40 cash/month for ‘extras’ – anything not covered under room and board.” This means a haircut is “extra.” Taking care of their pets is “extra.” If they don’t have family who are able to provide these extras, they go without. Ruby feels that these things shouldn’t be treated as “extras” — they’re basic necessities.

Ruby says the first patient she asked for better-fitting pants. Another woman told Ruby she would sit and cry every time she had to have a private conversation on the phone because it was a shared phone. “All she wanted from me was her own phone,” Ruby says. “She didn’t even ask for 2 other things.”

While her mom cares for her patients, Ruby going from room to room to ask residents what “wishes” they want, and then does everything she can to make those wishes come true. The expenses are minimal, given the fact that so many residents just want a few extra basic necessities.

This story especially hits home for anyone who has a loved one in nursing home. My grandma suffered a severe stroke last year and has been living in one ever since. While I know she’s well-cared for there, it’s certainly nothing like the comfort of her home.

Haircuts really are “extra” and so are many other things. Knowing there are people like Ruby out there who see these people for the human beings they are, not just patients, is a beautiful thing. It likely brings peace of mind to anyone who loves someone in one of these facilities.

“It really lifts you, it really does,” Ruby says.