Eighteen-year-old Tristan Ryan and his brother, Aidan, participate in a service project each year. Usually, they join Courts for Kids in building basketball courts for youth in other countries.
But last year, the Vancouver teens wanted to make an impact closer to home. Family friends Ami and Rob Kyne recently had premature twins who spent time in the neonatal intensive care unit at PeaceHealth Southwest Medical Center. The boys watched as the twins grew stronger, healthier and, finally, went home with their parents.
“That was what touched my and my brother’s hearts,” Tristan said.
So Tristan reached out to the hospital and asked how he could help. He learned the NICU wanted to implement a music therapy program to help with pain management, facilitate feeding and stabilize vital signs, such as heart rate and respirations. The therapy is also beneficial to families dealing with the daily stresses of having a child in the NICU.
So, with Tristan taking the lead, the Ryan boys went to work. In two months, they raised $103,000 to help get the music therapy program up and running. The program launched in December.
You Can Help
PeaceHealth Southwest Medical Center launched a music therapy program in its neonatal intensive care unit in December. The program’s first year was funded by local high school students who raised more than $130,000.
The hospital foundation is now seeking donors to support the continuation of the program. For more information, contact the PeaceHealth Southwest Medical Center Foundation at 360-514-3106.
“It’s pretty cool,” Tristan said. “It’s pretty amazing to see our work in action, our hard work pay off.”
On Thursday morning, Tristan was recognized for his hard work with a statewide award. Tristan, a senior at Seton Catholic College Preparatory School, received the 2016 Prudential Spirit of Community Award during a ceremony before his classmates, teachers and family at the Vancouver high school.
Prudential Financial selects one middle school and one high school recipient from each state and the District of Columbia to receive the award. As the high school winner in Washington, Tristan received $1,000 and, in early May, will travel to Washington D.C., where he’ll be considered for one of 10 national awards.
“This is a big deal,” said Brian Kurland, manager of financial services at Prudential, after presenting the award to Tristan. “There’s one kid in the state, and he got it.”
After Tristan and Aidan, 17, approached the hospital NICU about helping, they learned that Union High School students participating in the 2015 Mr. Union pageant were raising money for the same cause. So the Ryan boys joined the effort. In total, the high-schoolers raised about $132,000.
For their part, Tristan and Aidan approached restaurants and other local businesses asking for contributions. Local restaurants agreed to contribute some of their proceeds to the cause during one-day events. Businesses pitched in after Tristan and Aidan gave presentations about the NICU and the music therapy program. And smaller, themed fundraisers — such as one for the Super Bowl and another for March Madness — brought in more money.
In total, Tristan and Aidan collected $78,000 from 117 donors. They also secured a $25,000 matching donation from local philanthropist David Nierenberg, whose family established the PeaceHealth Southwest NICU.
During the fundraising efforts, Tristan said he learned just how many people in the community are touched by the NICU. He encountered many people who had children in the NICU or knew someone who had been in the NICU. Tristan himself spent time in a hospital NICU after birth.
“It was kind of something that sold itself, helping babies,” Tristan said. “People have a spot in their hearts to help innocent babies.”
