What would you do if you had three children: two healthy kids and one in the hospital with a threatening medical condition?

That’s the experience Mario and Nathalie Lemieux had with the birth of their son, Austin, in 1996. At that time, they had two toddlers under the age of three, with a newborn that spent 71 days in the NICU. It was after this personal experience that Mario and Nathalie recognized the need to help other young families facing challenging situations in medical facilities, and the idea for Austin’s Playrooms was born. The Mario Lemieux Foundation's Austin's Playrooms initiative seeks to benefit families and improve the quality of a child’s hospital experience, whether as a visitor or patient, by establishing cheerful playrooms that are safe, calming and comfortable.

The Mario Lemieux Foundation has opened 33 Austin’s Playrooms in western Pennsylvania as well as three playrooms in military hospitals across the country. Starting in 2018, Donut Dash is excited and honored to support the Austin's Playrooms initiative by aiming to raise $500,000 in the next five years for the construction and care of Austin’s Playrooms in the Pittsburgh region.