KARA FUND INC
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Mission Statement
Facing a life-threatening disease can be a devastating experience for anybody. It’s especially difficult for children and the families who care so deeply for them; the emotional and physical toll can easily overwhelm their ability to cope. To ease the stress and chaos of this unimaginable situation, The Kara Fund, run entirely by volunteers, donates goods and services to these children and their families to provide a measure of comfort and community in their time of distress. Some items The Kara Fund has donated include a blanket warmer so that children with cancer can stay warm while fighting the chills from a weakened condition; comfortable treatment chairs so they can receive intravenous medications without stressing their bodies; computers and software to give them a mental break; and gift cards, “comfort” bags, food vouchers, gas cards and other provisions to help families that are financially stressed get healthcare items not covered by insurance, afford small meals, and travel to critic
About This Cause
Facing a life-threatening disease can be a devastating experience for anybody. It’s especially difficult for children and the families who care so deeply for them; the emotional and physical toll can easily overwhelm their ability to cope. To ease the stress and chaos of this unimaginable situation, The Kara Fund, run entirely by volunteers, donates goods and services to these children and their families to provide a measure of comfort and community in their time of distress. Some items The Kara Fund has donated include a blanket warmer so that children with cancer can stay warm while fighting the chills from a weakened condition; comfortable treatment chairs so they can receive intravenous medications without stressing their bodies; computers and software to give them a mental break; and gift cards, “comfort” bags, food vouchers, gas cards and other provisions to help families that are financially stressed get healthcare items not covered by insurance, afford small meals, and travel to critical appointments. CHARITY DESCRIPTION The Kara Fund was informally established by Kathy and Mark MacDougall after their daughter, Kara, passed away in January 2010. In lieu of flowers at her services, they asked for donations to help them provide a blanket warmer to the Upstate Golisano Children’s Hospital, where Kara had spent some time being cared for. With the tremendous outpouring of community support they received, the MacDougalls were able to purchase the blanket and other comfort goods for the children in the wing of the hospital in which Kara spent most of her time. We work with a network of strategic partners, including CHOICES, a pediatric palliative care group at Upstate Medical University and Crouse Hospital; the Visiting Nurse Association of CNY; and CompassionNet. These partners are in the best position to identify seriously ill children and families in our area who have urgent needs that can’t be met by their care providers, and can benefit from our help. In addition, The Kara Fund has direct communication with floor nurses, nurse supervisors and hospital social workers to understand how to best help the children and families we serve. We are providing tangible comfort goods to children and families in crises, and have been able to successfully avoid almost all of the red tape issues faced by many organizations. When people give a tax-deductible donation to The Kara Fund, it goes directly to one of our three primary programs: • Comfort Care Program: helps families with seriously ill children primarily in a hospital setting. The program works with Upstate Golisano Children’s Hospital, Crouse Hospital, and CHOICES. Examples: We purchase gift cards for food and parking for children and families as they battle their illness at the Upstate Golisano Children’s Hospital; we buy food and snacks for weekly meetings of families with children in the Crouse Hospital Neonatal Intensive Care Unit families, as well as nutritious snacks for lactating mothers. • Home Care Program: helps families with seriously ill children primarily in the initial transition to home. The program works with the pediatric division of Visiting Nurse Association of CNY, and we spend about $2,000 a month on supplies. Example: We fill “comfort bags” with warm blankets, meal cards, pharmacy cards, soap, books, baby blankets, games, and other items. In the words of one of the program’s supervisors: “The pediatric nurses are really thrilled to bring these gifts to patients and their families. This group is so accustomed to having to beg, borrow and whatever to get things for these kids that they don't want to take advantage of the program. A couple of the nurses have had experiences where clearly it was through the offer of having a gift package from The Kara Fund that influenced families to allow the nurse to come in. One in particular had such a bad history of follow-up with medical personnel they were close to having Child Protective Services called in. Now they are allowing visits by the nurse. It was because of The Kara Fund gift that the nurse got her foot in the door.” In many cases children would go without items like blankets, socks, toys, books, etc. The families have the opportunity to use their gift cards for medical supplies, formula, and other goods that are a financial strain as they move from a hospital to home. • Family Care Program: direct support to families in crisis with a seriously ill child. This program works through community referrals and is managed by a committee within The Kara Fund. Examples: We buy gift cards for food and to help financially stressed families travel to cancer centers in Buffalo and Boston. Recently, we provided a comfort bag and funds to help a sibling attend a clinical trial with her sick brother. As of January 2016, Kara Fund donations have touched over 20,000 people. Here are a couple of recent purchases: • We donated 13 acute care pediatric overbed tables so that children in the cancer wing of Golisano Children’s Hospital can have a place to play games and look at their computers, and take their minds off their illnesses for a while. • We gave a family some funds to put toward a snowblower—or to have their driveway plowed—because they have to drive to a pediatric intensive care unit every day during the winter. Donors can be assured that almost all of their gift goes to help those in need. In addition to being a 501(c)3 public charity, The Kara Fund is managed and staffed entirely by volunteers serving the Central New York community. We have some unavoidable expenses, but 93 cents of every dollar donated goes directly to bringing comfort to the children and families we serve.