CLEVELAND: University Hospitals is awarding its highest philanthropic honor to a group dedicated for 120 years to the health and well-being of Cleveland's children. The Rainbow Babies & Children’s Foundation is this year’s winner of the esteemed Samuel Mather Award from University Hospitals (UH). The award, named for one of UH’s earliest supporters, celebrates the exceptional generosity and civic vision of benefactors who have had a lasting and profound impact on University Hospitals.
The Rainbow Babies & Children’s Foundation and its predecessor organization have made it their mission to garner financial, political, corporate and community support for the hospital. Most recently, the Foundation awarded Rainbow $20.6 million, the largest single gift in Rainbow’s history, in support of University Hospitals’ Vision 2010 strategic plan.
“This marks the first time University Hospitals has recognized a group for their generosity in supporting UH by awarding them the Samuel Mather Award. This historic gift from Rainbow Babies & Children’s Foundation represents an unprecedented investment in Rainbow that will help strategically position us to serve our nation’s children as one of the top children’s hospitals in the U.S.,” said Thomas F. Zenty III, president and CEO, University Hospitals.
The Foundation traces its origins to 1887, when nine young women formed the Rainbow Circle of King’s Daughters, a sisterhood with a mission to help poor Cleveland children. The Rainbow Circle relied on funding from community organizations and civic leaders to help grow its hospital. The Foundation began as a small group of dedicated women, and today remains a powerful collaboration of 36 civic-minded women who advocated strongly for the mission of Rainbow Babies and Children’s Hospital.
“We are proud and pleased to continue the outreach efforts started so long ago by our sisters in service, and we are deeply touched by this prestigious honor from University Hospitals. The award celebrates the hundreds of women who have been a part of the Foundation over the past 120 years,” said Julie A. Raskind, president, Rainbow Babies & Children’s Foundation.
“The longstanding support of the Rainbow Babies & Children's Foundation has continuously enabled us to provide unique and pioneering patient and family-centered programs in pediatrics," said Fred C. Rothstein, MD, president and CEO of University Hospitals Case Medical Center. "Their legacy of supporting Rainbow Babies and Children’s Hospital is immeasurable."
From their advocacy of Rainbow’s innovative Child Life Program - which is designed to help young patients maintain as normal a life as possible while in the hospital - to helping make the Horvitz Tower a reality and partnering with the Lance Armstrong Foundation to establish the Center for Survivors of Childhood Cancer at Rainbow, the Foundation has played a vital role in funding innovative programs and initiatives that have benefited the hospital, its patients and their families.
“The Rainbow Babies & Children’s Foundation has been a strong supporter and advocate for many years,” said Meri B. Armour, senior vice president, women’s and children’s services at University Hospitals Case Medical Center. “We are grateful for their long-standing support, and were humbled by their significant generosity earlier this year. Rainbow is blessed to have these women in our corner, and The Samuel Mather Award can only begin to express our sincere gratitude.”
The Foundation’s gift -- announced in March 2006 -- was designated to support the construction of a new Neonatal Intensive Care Unit ($5 million), as well as to support Child Life funding ($7 million) and additional clinical programs and new initiatives ($3.6 million).
The remaining $5 million is earmarked for an “Endowed Chair Challenge” program in which the Foundation contributes $500,000 for every $1 million donated toward an endowed chair. The challenge enables Rainbow to retain and recruit the best talent in pediatric medicine and will result in 10 new fully funded endowed chairs at $1.5 million each.
“This challenge was incorporated into the gift to inspire the community and leverage additional support for Rainbow,” said Ms. Raskind. “In the few short months since we issued the challenge, we have already helped establish two endowed chairs, and hope to announce several more in the near future.”
“The support of the Foundation has been integral to the development of Rainbow as one of the leading children’s hospitals in the country,” said Avroy A. Fanaroff, MD, chief medical officer and chairman of pediatrics at Rainbow. “It is this type of support that will propel Rainbow Babies & Children’s Hospital into the next decade, and allow us to continually raise the bar in pediatric care.”