YouTuber Ms. Rachel donates $5,000 to Filipino baby with abdominal defect

American YouTuber and educator Ms. Rachel donated $5,000 to help a Filipino baby diagnosed with omphalocele, providing the family with much-needed help with their medical expenses.

Ms. Rachel, whose real name is Rachel Griffin-Accurso, made the donation after the baby’s mother, Daisy Mejia, reached out to her on Threads.

Mejia shared that her son is a fan of Ms. Rachel and loves singing along to “I Love a Rainbow,” an original song by Ms. Rachel.

In her post, Mejia thanked Ms. Rachel, 43, for bringing happiness to her son before asking if she could share on social media the link to the fundraiser for her younger son who had been diagnosed with omphalocele. 

Clevelandclinic.org describes omphalocele as "a condition in which a baby’s abdominal organs develop outside their belly. Omphalocele surgery repairs the opening and puts the organs back in the abdomen."

"Hi Miss Rachel @msrachelforlittles ! I'm hoping if you could please share our fundraiser for his little brother who was diagnosed with omphalocele. Thank you so much," she wrote, along with the fundraising link.

Instead of sharing the fundraiser, Ms. Rachel responded that she had already donated the entire amount needed.

"I donated the full amount. He's so precious and much love to the whole family. Hope his brother feels better soon."

The donation listed on the GoGetFunding page amounted to $5,000, or more than ₱313,000.

The baby’s hospital bill totaled more than ₱292,000 at Asian Hospital and Medical Center in Alabang, Muntinlupa City. The amount donated by Ms. Rachel was enough to cover the full bill.

Mejia later expressed her heartfelt appreciation to Ms. Rachel for helping her family during the difficult situation.

"Thank you so much @msrachelforlittles from the bottom of my heart, for your generous donation. I honestly don’t have enough words to express how grateful I am for your kindness and generosity.

"Your help means so much to me and my family, and it has given us comfort and hope during a very difficult time. Please know that your kindness will never be forgotten. Thank you for being such a blessing to us. May God bless you and your family abundantly," Mejia wrote.

Ms. Rachel was not the only person who offered assistance. Other individuals have also extended their support and continue to help the family.

Ms. Rachel is also known for using her platform to support children in need. As an ambassador for Save the Children, she has supported fundraising efforts for children affected by conflicts worldwide. 

She previously pledged $1 million to match rapper Macklemore’s donation to the Palestine Children’s Relief Fund (PCRF), which provides medical care and relief to children in Gaza.

Ms. Rachel is widely known for creating online educational videos that support early learning and development among young children.

She is a former preschool and music teacher with formal training in education. She holds a master’s degree in music education from New York University (NYU) Steinhardt, and another master’s degree in early childhood education.

She later brought her experience in education to YouTube, where she created the popular YouTube series “Songs for Littles.” The series is designed to support early language and speech development among babies, toddlers, and preschoolers, with interactive, research-backed videos that incorporate strategies she learned from early intervention speech therapists.

Ms. Rachel currently has more than 21.5 million subscribers on YouTube and has created 126 videos.