When last we checked on Ruby Kate Chitsey, she had collected “only” $50,000 for nursing home residents. My, how things have picked up since then.

What began as a bored pre-teen visiting her parents at work has turned into more than $244,000 raised for SNFs, and an increasingly famous little girl.

It all started last summer when 11-year-old Ruby Kate Chitsey tagged along with her mother to work at several Arkansas nursing facilities. Seeing residents scraping by on a $40 monthly Medicaid allowance, she decided to help out.

She started a GoFundMe.com page to aid in the effort, which had tallied about $50,000 at the time of our last report. Weeks later, the fundraiser has added hundreds of thousands of dollars. Chitsey is now the CEO of her own nonprofit that raises funds for SNF residents across the country and not just Arkansas, and she has been named a Fox News Hero since the original story broke.

The Harrison City Council also declared March 28 as “Ruby Kate Chitsey Day” to commemorate all of her accomplishments.

“We’re so proud to have this compassionate young girl in our community making a big difference at such a young age to the elderly in our city,” Mayor Jerry Jackson read from a proclamation.

Ruby Kate Chitsey is using the funds to help grant nursing home residents’ simple wishes, which have ranged from a helping of fast food French fries to a new pair of shoes.

“My ultimate goal is just to make elderly people happy,” she told GoFundMe in a recent interview that announced her as its “Kid Hero” of the month.