Ryan Seacrest

Ryan Seacrest on the Air for Sick Kids

UPDATED 10/23/2006 at 01:00 AM EDT • Originally published 10/23/2006 at 01:00 AM EDT

HEY, MR. DEEJAY
"Can you help me?" Ryan Seacrest asks Ricky Beltran, 10, a patient at Children's Hospital of Orange County. Beltran is there for his leukemia treatment and Seacrest is there to help him forget about it. Leading the boy to a new radio studio in the hospital's lobby, Seacrest eggs Ricky on as he leans into the microphone and goofily tells his listeners, "Paaaaay your bills!"

CHASING THE BLUES AWAY
Ricky's fellow patients will also get a turn at the mike thanks to Radio Lollipop, a project close to Seacrest's heart, which brings in-house radio stations to kids' hospitals. "The kids can play games and talk about their doctors," jokes Seacrest, who helped raise $500,000 from donors for the project. "It's cool having our own radio station," says Elli Khamanian, 10, who has bone cancer. "It makes you forget why you're here."