MANHATTAN — A 13-year-old Westchester girl is hoping to bring comfort to sick kids by donating a portion of her bat mitzvah money to a Washington Heights children’s hospital.
Emily Lapine, of Irvington, made a $2,000 donation to the New York-Presbyterian Morgan Stanley Children's Hospital last week, specifying that the money be used to support the hospital’s art therapy program and to buy iPad applications to be enjoyed by patients.
“I know when I’m sick… I like things to distract me,” Emily said of the donation.
Though only 13, Emily has visited children battling cancer many times with her mom, Missy Chase Lapine, author of “The Sneaky Chef” book series and a member of the Children’s Advisory Council at Morgan Stanley Children’s Hospital.
“I just wanted to help them as much as I could because I saw the struggles they were going through,” Emily explained.
In addition to donating money to the hospital, Emily also participated in a five-week training course with her black lab, Princess, allowing her to become a certified therapy dog.
Emily and Princess plan to make monthly visits to hospitals and senior centers.
