8-year-old Kaiya Mack using music to raise $15k for Ronald McDonald House Charities

HAWAII (KGO) -- An 8-year-old girl with a big voice is raising money for Ronald McDonald House Charities.

Kaiya Mack was born with a life-threatening condition called Gastroschisis, which means her intestines were on the outside of her body. Needing specialized care not available in Hawaii, her family traveled to Stanford Children's Hospital where she underwent six surgeries.

Being far away from Hawaii meant Ronald McDonald House Charities Bay Area became her second home.

"Until you have a sick child you don't understand that feeling of stress," Kaiya's father Jonny Mack said. "The fact you can be in this community and share with other people and they help you and it's for free and they don't ask you for anything in return, it's a blessing."

Now fully healthy, Kaiya wants to give back. At age 3, Kaiya fell in love with singing because she wanted to make people happy. Using her passion for music as a tool for good, she set a goal to raise $10,000 dollars for Ronald McDonald House Charities - splitting the money evenly between the Bay Area and Hawaii.

Her message is simple: Help if you can, the way others helped her.

To help drive donations and raise awareness, Kaiya recorded a song with Grammy-nominated Reggae producer, JVibe, who remixed the beat to the song Dynamite by BTS. She is including a digital download of the song with donations.

Kaiya's story has gone viral in her home state of Hawaii and she is nearing her fundraising goal. She is hoping the Bay Area can help her cross the finish line.

With a bright future ahead of her, the next time she walks into a Ronald McDonald House, she'll be there to drop off a big check for charity.

If you are able to, you can help Kaiya reach her fundraising goal by clicking here.

Editorial Update: After we published this story Kaiya quickly reached her $10,000 fundraising goal. In an effort to help more kids, she has upped it to $15,000 with proceeds split between Oakland and San Francisco Ronald McDonald House Charities.