East Tipp student national finalist

LAFAYETTE, Ind. (WLFI) - A young philanthropist in Tippecanoe County is hoping to raise national attention-and money.

12-year-old Nathan Earl has raised thousands of dollars for kids with cancer and their families. It all started when the disease hit close to home.

"Henry passed away three years ago, and ever since then we've been doing fundraisers to help for his cause," Nathan said.

Nathan's cousin Henry was only six years old when he passed away after fighting a battle with leukemia, but Nathan remembered how much Henry loved playing the Nintendo Wii system while he was alive.

"He really liked it," Nathan said. "He couldn't get out of bed all the time, but you could still do the tricks and stuff beside the bed with your hands. Or if you can get up you can get all kinds of stuff with the Wii sports."

And a plan was hatched. Nathan started raising money to bring Wiis to all of the kids at the Riley Children's Hospital in Indianapolis. To date, he has raised tens of thousands of dollars for families in need, and put a Wii game console in every room on the fifth floor of Riley.

"It is really important for everybody. It should actually really help," said McKinzie Bundy, Nathan's next-door neighbor. Bundy has been helping Nathan since he started his cause in 2007.

Now Nathan hopes to raise more money for Riley through the Kids Who Give fundraising competition. He's one of ten finalists in the contest. Five winners will get $1000 for a charity of their choice.

"They have lots of fun," he said. "It's just fun seeing smiles on their faces."

In spite of the huge scope of Nathan's fundraising efforts, he remains humble. He said he just wants other kids his age to learn from his example.

"If we raise a thousand dollars, think if 10 other kids did that from 10 other states," he said. "We could raise $10,000 just to go to kids, and that'd be amazing."

Nathan said if he wins the competition, he will use the money to buy art supplies and other gifts for the kids at Riley.

To find out more about Nathan's story, and to vote for him in the Kids Who Give contest, click here .