8-year-old Ruby of Mortdale raises over $3000 for MS

The Mortdale resident, who attends St Declan's Catholic Primary School Penshurst, decided to begin the challenge at the start of lockdown and now she's appealing to other local kids to get on board.

"It's a good opportunity to help raise money for people who have MS and if they love to read they can read lots of books, and especially during COVID, they can find a new hobby," Ruby told the Leader.

Ruby's mum, Christine Williams, who has MS, said her daughter was "beyond awesome".

"She's helpful, kind, generous, and very aware of social justice," Mrs Williams said.

This is Ruby's second year of raising funds for important causes. Last year, she sold chocolates to raise money for the homeless and ended up donating $100 to the St Vincent de Paul Society.

Ruby's big brother Owen, 11, also helped her raise funds.

Ruby said she wanted to participate in the MS Readathon because she loved to read, and "I just wanted to help people like Mummy".

She has read 41 books - way above her goal of 10 - and her favourites so far have been Matilda by Roald Dahl, and Across the Sea: Wolf Girl 5 by Anh Do.

Ruby thanked the people in the community who have sponsored her so far.

Mrs Williams said she wanted to "give a shout out" to MS Australia "that works really hard to educate families, people who are newly-diagnosed, and works really hard to keep people in employment."

The MS Readathon (www.msreadathon.org.au) challenges kids to read whatever they like, as much as they like, for a month, and raise money for people with MS. Kids can register with their school or individually.

Donate to Ruby's fundraiser at bit.ly/3ja5aYZ