Partners Aim to Raise $250,000 for Children

For the second consecutive year, Children’s Hospital Los Angeles (CHLA) has partnered with the Barbara Sinatra Children’s Center (BSCC) in conjunction with CHLA’s Make March Matter™ fundraising campaign. The goal is to raise at least $250,000 during the month of March in the Coachella Valley in support of services for children and families at CHLA and BSCC.

Make March Matter is an annual fundraising campaign established in 2016 to build awareness and support for Children’s Hospital Los Angeles, a nonprofit pediatric hospital dedicated to creating hope and building healthier futures. By offering more than 350 programs and services just for children, California’s premier children’s hospital helps kids recover faster from life-threatening diseases and chronic illnesses. In 2017, the campaign expanded to include desert community businesses.

“We are grateful to the Coachella Valley partners who are committed to raising funds to support services delivered at Children’s Hospital Los Angeles through the Audrey Hepburn CARES Center to the BSCC,” Dawn Wilcox, vice president of Corporate Partnerships at CHLA, said in a prepared statement.

Both organizations focus on the needs of children suffering the effects of abuse and neglect and those who are at risk of being abused. Under the direction of Dr. Karen Kay Imagawa, the CARES Center and BSCC collectively treat more than 1,200 children each year. Additional funding will help patients receive child-appropriate care more quickly, reduce delays in child abuse investigations, protect more children who have suffered abuse and support a more streamlined return home for children who have not been abused.

“Thanks to the success of last year’s campaign, we were able to see and treat more children at the Barbara Sinatra Children’s Center,” John Thoresen, CEO of BSCC, said in a prepared statement. “We have immense gratitude for CHLA and Dr. Imagawa, whose leadership guides us in providing compassionate and expert medical care to these vulnerable children.”

CHLA and BSCC recently received matching grants totaling nearly $150,000 including a generous pledge from the H.N. and Frances C. Berger Foundation and the Galen Family Foundation.

Coachella Valley organizations and businesses supporting the MMM campaign as of today include: