SYRACUSE, N.Y. — The charity Paige’s Butterfly Run, Inc. recently presented a $215,000 donation to the Upstate Foundation to benefit cancer care and research at Upstate Golisano Children’s Hospital.

Upstate Medical University referred to it as the charity’s “traditional holiday gift donation,” according to its online announcement.

Paige’s Butterfly Run officials presented the check to foundation and hospital officials in a brief ceremony held Dec. 20 in the Kinney Performance Center of Upstate Golisano Children’s Hospital.

“We cannot thank Chris Arnold, the Paige’s Butterfly Run team, and all their community supporters enough for continuing to work in support of our patients and their families,” Toni Gary, assistant VP for development & community relations for Upstate Golisano Children’s Hospital, said in the announcement.

Since 1997, Paige’s Butterfly Run, Inc. has raised almost $5 million in support of pediatric cancer care at Upstate Medical University, the health system said.

“Paige’s Butterfly Run aims to make the difficult journey of a child’s cancer diagnosis a little easier,” said Dr. Melanie Comito, the Paige Yeomans Arnold Endowed Professor in Pediatric Oncology and division chief of the Waters Center for Children’s Cancer and Blood Disorders at Upstate.

The donation will provide financial support to families to cover everything from food and gas expenses to medical costs and other services, Upstate said.

The charity honors Paige Yeomans Arnold, a student at Palmer Elementary School in Baldwinsville who was diagnosed with leukemia in 1993 when she was age 6. She died a year later from complications from a bone-marrow transplant in an effort to cure her leukemia at Boston Children’s Hospital, according to Upstate.

The namesake charity raises money through a variety of events throughout the year, such as Paige’s Butterfly Run, an annual running race and walk that is held in June.