Riley ‘kidney kash’ program rewards dialysis patients, teaches financial literacy
INDIANAPOLIS (WISH) – Making school a priority can be hard for kids who spend hours hooked up to dialysis machines. So Riley Hospital for Children at IU Health is using a system to help kids get interested in doing their homework.
Kids that are hooked up to dialysis machines are often exhausted after making their way to the hospital and may not want to focus on their homework. So the hospital is giving them a bit of a cash incentive to get their work done.
It’s not real cash though. These bills are “kidney kash.” It’s something kids earn every trip to the hospital by having their homework complete, being kind to others, and cooperating with the doctor’s orders.
It’s turning work into a fun game.
“At first I wasn’t doing school work here,” Kiera Allen said. “But then I (saw) the other kids doing it and I decided to do it.”
Kids earn up to $10 each visit and can save up their money to purchase some pretty amazing items off the “kidney cart.”
Those items are made available thanks to a grant. They can be as small as a snack and as large as an iPad.
“They’re earning money, but also, prices are a little more expensive,” Kellee Clevenger, Riley school program educational liaison, said.
It can take months for kids to earn enough for the big ticket items, especially because there’s a hard lesson about real life involved with all this cash each month.
“You’ve got to buy stuff and pay for stuff you don’t want to pay for, like rent!” Allen said.
“She’s very close to the AirPods and then she told me, ‘Girl, I am so close and you’re going to charge me rent!?’ so now she’s kind of back down a little bit,” Clevenger said.
Through making money, buying fun things, managing checkbooks and bills like “rent,” the kids get motivated to do their homework while learning even more about finances.
“Yeah, so you have to, like, use money wisely and keep enough for rent and stuff like that, and just don’t blow it on whatever,” Allen said.
On top of all the lessons learned with the system, it gives kids a chance to do something they want in a space where they can’t do much.
“When they’re here for four hours, they have no control over anything,” Clevenger said. “So I was wanting something that they had some control over. They get to make the choices on what they’re buying. Mom and dad aren’t sitting next to them, telling them what they can and can’t buy. They’ve worked for this money, they’ve saved this money, so they get to choose what they’re purchasing. So, just a little ownership.”
There are some really neat things on the “kidney cart” but there could be some even cooler items on there with your help.
You can help donate and make these kids’ day by contacting the Riley Children’s Foundation and asking about the program.