Rayner Reinhardt already has her fundraising goal set for this year's Kids Helping Hopkins program, which gets school children involved in raising money for the John Hopkins Children's Center in Baltimore each fall.

The Catonsville Elementary School third-grader said she wants to raise $250, $80 more than the school record of $170 that she contributed last year.

"I'm going to save up all the money I get from my allowance and I'm going to put it in the bank," Rayner said of her fundraising plans, noting she'll likely contribute her birthday money for the second year in a row as well.

In acknowledgment of her commitment to the program, the 8-year-old was one of five people in the state who were nominated this year for one of the program's Children's Champion awards.

The awards are given each fall to students or teachers who have gone "above and beyond the call of duty for whatever event it was that their class or their school chose to do" for Kids Helping Hopkins, said Paula Shell, a development coordinator for the Johns Hopkins Office of Child Development.

Rayner will receive the award at the program's kickoff event Oct. 8 at Windsor Mill Middle School.

Catonsville Elementary Principal Linda Miller, who is on the program's steering committee, nominated Rayner after witnessing Rayner's enthusiasm for the program last fall, she said.

Rayner was born at Hopkins two months early and spent a month in its neonatal intensive care unit. Because of that, she has a special connection to the hospital, said her mother, Alyssa Reinhardt.

This year, the news of the award has helped spark Rayner's enthusiasm once more, her mother said.

Of her own motivation, Rayner said, "I think it's important for people to help you when you're sick."

Since Kids Helping Hopkins began 16 years ago, it has raised more than $1.25 million for various hospital programs not covered by patients' insurance, Shell said.

Last year, brothers Adam and Sam Jaudon of Hillcrest Elementary School were named Children's Champions.

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