Grant Recipients

Our first grant was awarded in December 2001 to a family with an infant who was born with several complications and required surgery to connect his esophagus to his stomach.

Other grants awarded since 2002:

• Teen whose severe allergic reaction resulted in brain damage, leaving her in a persistant vegetative state.

• A third grader struck by a speeding hit and run driver, who ended up permanently disabled due to the brain damage she suffered.

• A toddler with a severe form of a congenital muscular disorder, who stood for the first time only when encased in a huge, metal lower-body brace.

• A little girl with a ventricular septum defect and Wilms Tumor, a rapidly growing kidney cancer.

• Another little girl, 4 years old, who was diagnosed with a growing hemangeoma (blood filled tumor) that started growing near the brain stem through to the eye. She is undergoing extensive treatment to control the tumor until she is old enough for surgery.

• One of our most recent recipients in 2008 include a toddler with Pompei disease (enzyme deficiency disease) who is undergoing an experimental treatment that has allowed this child to live beyond expectations.

• The second recipient in 2008 is a teen-aged boy who is mentally retarded and extremely autistic who requires medical procedures including sedation dentistry.

• Child with medulloblastoma, a malignant brain tumor in the cerebellum, whose medical treatment has resulted in mountains of out of pocket expenses for treatments.

In all cases, the family faced true need, including parents working multiple jobs (or a parent having to leave a job to care for the child), potential loss of home, and mounting bills. Even if a family has insurance, co-payments and costs for necessary but non-covered specialized items can reach unmanageable proportions.

Our happiest moments in working with this charity have been those when we have handed grant checks to surprised parents; our saddest and most helpless moments have been those when our hearts ached because we heard of or from a family for whom we had no money to give.

Nearly every dollar we receive goes to grants to help families with children like the ones who have received grants in Julien's memory. We do everything possible to keep operating expenses minimal and many of those expenese are paid out of pocket by our volunteers.