By Aashna Shah
Following last week’s first feature in Profiles of Emerging Leaders, this article spotlights a youth-led nonprofit proving that leadership can start early and still create real impact. Kids Raise for Kids, led by student leaders Aanya Gupta and Kaitlyn Chun (co-presidents), was created to support pediatric patients in hospital emergency rooms through comfort-focused care kits.
The organization’s mission centers on one specific community: children in emergency departments, where fear and uncertainty can be just as difficult as the medical situation itself. Kids Raise for Kids collects and distributes care kits to pediatric patients, including those at Cohen’s Children’s Hospital, to provide reassurance and small moments of comfort during stressful hospital visits.
The idea behind the nonprofit grew from the team’s shared connection to pediatric hospitalization, whether through personal experiences or stories that stayed with them. Instead of letting that empathy remain personal, they turned it into action and built an initiative led by youth, for youth.
Alongside the co-presidents, the nonprofit is supported by a structured leadership team: Isabelle Kan and Isabelle Deon as co-vice presidents; Achint Kaur as secretary; Lylah Merabi as treasurer; Shelly Chen as social media manager; and Eva Brown as research coordinator. With clearly defined roles, the students operate with the organization and accountability of a professional nonprofit.
Their most meaningful project remains their ongoing Care Kits Program, which continues to grow through community donations, fundraising events, and bake sales. All proceeds go directly toward care kit materials, and the team maintains transparency by clearly connecting funds raised to kits delivered.
Kids Raise for Kids reflects a modern kind of leadership: organized, collaborative, and driven by empathy. Through consistency and teamwork, these student leaders are proving that meaningful change doesn’t require adulthood, only initiative and purpose.
Aashna Shah is an Indian American sophomore at Syosset High School interested in business, fashion, and storytelling. She hopes to use fashion as a pathway to uplift underserved communities. She also serves as the Submission Coordinator for Kaleidoscope, where she helps curate and elevate youth voices through storytelling.
