CHF's blog

Performers Unite to Support Health Care for Every Child

Some of the most celebrated talents of our time took the stage at New York City’s famed Radio City Music Hall on October 4 to recognize Children’s Health Fund’s 25th Anniversary year in unforgettable fashion. The once-in-a-lifetime event featured celebrity families performing together to raise awareness about kids in poverty and the work CHF is doing to get them the healthcare they need. CHF Co-Founder Paul Simon, who organized and hosted the concert, was joined by both his wife, Edie Brickell, and their daughter, Lulu Belle Simon, whose fabulous singing thrilled the audience.

Every day, Children’s Health Fund doctors and nurses play a quiet role in the American dream. By providing critical health care to children in need, CHF’s medical professionals help kids become better prepared to learn in school and reach their fullest potential as productive citizens.

It’s difficult to imagine a better illustration of this than the story of Juan Robles. A CHF patient as a boy, Juan credits his CHF doctor with inspiring him to become a doctor himself. And today he is one, practicing in the very South Bronx neighborhood he where grew up.

I’ve worked in the nonprofit world for the majority of my career. I think I’m drawn to this industry because the impact of your work is felt more strongly. As a new member to the team (I joined Children’s Health Fund (CHF) two months ago) I’m learning more and more about what this great organization is made up of.  At CHF’s core, they are about ensuring every kid in America has a healthy start at life. And, how do they do that?

We would like to thank the employees of ITG for volunteering their time and energy painting apartments at a family homeless shelter in the South Bronx last week.  Children's Health Fund’s New York Children’s Health Project visits the shelter on a weekly basis to provide much needed health care services to the children and family members who live there.   The hard work and enthusiasm put forth by the volunteers will certainly help brighten the lives of the children and families who are experiencing such a difficult transition, and we are so thankful.

Dr. Manali Kanitkar, a pediatric dentist at our New York program, recently had a special guest visit her on our mobile dental clinic – Abby Cadabby from Sesame Street.  Abby stopped by for a check-up and to share some important news about a great resource for children and parents called Healthy Teeth, Healthy Me.

Molina Medicaid Solutions in Louisiana recently donated jump ropes, healthy recipe cards, and books to our Baton Rouge Children’s Health Project, totaling more than $1,000 in donated items. The Baton Rouge program distributed the gifts to the children of Delmont Elementary School who also got to meet Dr. Cleo, Molina Healthcare's mascot.

Recently WeTopia Correspondent Will Miller Jr. boarded our New York Mobile Clinic to give the citizens of WeTopia (the new Facebook game) a close-up look at the children we serve and the people who care for them. The video features the kind-hearted Dr. Paula Pollard-Thomas and Senior Driver Steve Diaz. Steve is the quintessential New Yorker: No non-sense, all heart. “The buck stops here”.

I had the honor and fun of accepting a check for $43,459 from pop star extraordinaire, Katy Perry!   She chose Children’s Health Fund to be one of the charities to benefit from ticket sales from her California Dreams tour.  Katy made special tickets available for sale for her US tour through Tickets-for-Charity, and fans could purchase some of the best seats in the house while also supporting charities, including CHF.  Not only did I get to go to her fantastic concert (and there were real in-door fireworks), but I hand-delivered a thank you note and drawing from on

Last week, WeTopia, a fun new social game that you play with friends to help real children in the real world, launched on Facebook. We’re thrilled to announce that Children’s Health Fund (CHF) was chosen as one of Sojo Studio’s partner organizations, which means that our programs will directly benefit from playing WeTopia.

In accordance with the Thanksgiving holiday, Salon.com profiled five worthy nonprofit organizations to give to this holiday season. Children's Heath Fund was selected as the health care charity to donate to because of our four star rating from Charity Navigator. Your gift (of any amount) can help CHF programs bring quality health care directly to children in need. Please consider donating today.