Cross A Finish Line for Children in Need
By Carrie Marriot
The Finish Line is Just the Beginning
Our son Henry, pictured here, was just 10 months old and learning how to pull himself up to standing. I was in the kitchen making dinner like any other day; with one eye on my son crawling happily around on the floor. While I took a chicken dish out of the hot oven and before I could kick the door shut, Henry pulled himself up on it. Even now, five years later, the memory of his intense pain and the huge blisters that bubbled up immediately on his little hands is as raw as it was in the moment. We didn’t know if he would regain full use of his hands.
Thanks to the unique pediatric burn unit at Children’s National Health System, today you would never know he’d been through such trauma.
There are countless stories similar to ours from families in the Washington, DC area – and from across the country and around the world – who have experienced firsthand the many reasons why supporting Children’s National is so important. Matt and Karen Smith’s son Noah is another example. Born with an extremely rare heart defect called Tetralogy of Fallot With Inverted Great Arteries {S, D, I}, Noah needed medical expertise that was hard to find. His was one of only 10 known cases around the world. His surgeon at Children’s National had treated this very condition and is at the forefront of innovation in the area. Today, Noah is like any other adorable, active 4-year-old, running up and down the soccer field and triumphantly scoring goals.
Race for Every Child
On September 13, at the Race for Every Child 5K, toddlers, teenagers, their courageous families and supportive friends – along with thousands of schoolmates, teachers, health professionals and community advocates – will walk, run, stroll, skip and (for the babies in strollers) roll their way to a finish line that marks new beginnings. I will be running with Henry and our whole family at my side.
At the Race for Every Child 5k run/walk (and the fun 100-yard Kids’ Dash for children aged 3 to 10), we say that “the finish line is just the beginning” because the funds raised from the event will have a lasting impact on the lives of so many children in need. Last year alone, Children’s National provided $41.3 million in uncompensated care to some of the nation’s most vulnerable kids.
The hospital welcomes every child in need of medical care – and provides every child with world-class care – regardless of the family’s ability to pay. Last year for our inaugural race participants represented some 26 states to help patients who came from 22 countries worldwide.
This year, we will walk together again with a monumental backdrop, down Pennsylvania Avenue, around the National Mall, past the U.S. Capitol, down Independence Avenue and then back with the goal of raising $1 million to continue to meet almost 15,000 hospital admissions, 108,000 emergency visits, and nearly half a million outpatient visits every year.
Wherever we may live, let us be unified in our purpose: To not only raise funds or advocate for an issue that is near and dear to our hearts, but also to learn lessons about community service and commitment to causes that create change. In the process, we learn to step up for a cause and step out for our own health.
The health and safety of NEA members, and the schools and communities they serve, is HIN’s mission-driven mandate. Remember that opportunities to realize this mission are not restricted to the classroom alone! The Race for Every Child is a case in point where our youth, family, friends – indeed, entire community – can take part in a fun-filled family day with a serious purpose:
To bring communities together to encourage children’s health and wellness and to raise much-needed funds that help the region’s only children’s hospital provide world-class preventive and critical medical care to every family in need.
Learn more at RaceForEveryChild.org, where you can sign up to run/walk or donate if you’re unable to join us that day. Please support this critical cause, and celebrate children’s health with us on September 13, 2014!
Guest blogger Carrie Marriott is an active philanthropist and advocate for children’s health and education, and a busy mother of four children under the age of 12. Youngest son, Henry, is one of the compelling reasons why is Carrie is chairing the second annual Race for Every Child for Children’s National Health System in Washington, DC to ensure that all children have access to world class health care, regardless of their ability to pay.
Posted by HIN Staff
on July 31, 2014