Riley Children's Foundation Helps Fund 3 Local Organizations
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Jennifer Peryam-jperyam@timesuniononline.com
Riley Children’s Foundation, the fund-raising organization supporting Riley Hospital for Children at Indiana University Health, has granted $10,500 to family-focused initiatives in the Warsaw area. Joe’s Kids Inc., Court Appointed Special Advocates of Kosciusko and Boomerang Backpack – Warsaw Schools each received $3,500 in grants Wednesday during a check presentation led by Warsaw Riley Leadership Committee member Susan Findlay. Riley Children’s Foundation worked with the Warsaw Riley Leadership Committee regarding nominations and to select the grant recipients. “They were selected because of their mission to help children. We have supported Boomerang Backpacks and Joe’s Kids in the past, and it is the first time for supporting CASA,” Findlay said. According to a press release from the organization, Riley Children’s Foundation supports Riley Hospital for Children at Indiana University Health, Camp Riley and the James Whitcomb Riley Museum Home. As Indiana’s only comprehensive hospital dedicated exclusively to the care of children, Riley Hospital has provided compassionate care, support and comfort to children and their families since 1924, the release states. Each year children from all 92 Indiana counties turn to Riley Hospital and its regional clinics throughout the state more than 300,000 times. Riley Hospital’s partnership with Indiana University Health and its strong affiliation with the Indiana University School of Medicine make Riley Hospital the leader in pediatric care in the state and the region, according to the release. The mission of Joe’s Kids Inc. is to help each child reach their full potential and to educate and support their families along the way. The grant will provide operational funding that will assist in continuing to provide quality, accessible therapy to the special needs children in the community. Rebecca Bazzoni, Joe’s Kid’s executive director, said the organization provides physical, occupational and speech therapy to children with special needs and developmental delays. The organization currently serves 130 children with over 220 visits per week and 80 percent of clients are from Kosciusko County, and 20 percent are from outside the county. CASA of Kosciusko County advocates for the best interest of abused and neglected children who are entangled in the Kosciusko County court system by recruiting, training and supporting volunteers to serve as advocates. Funds will support programing for parents to better resolve custody and visitation disputes by putting the child’s best interest first. Mackenzie Cloutier, CASA executive director, said, “This is our first time for receiving funds from Riley, and we are very grateful and thankful for the opportunity. We are planning to use the funds to develop a program to help families with parenting guidelines and making custody battle situations easier on the children.” The mission of Boomerang Backpacks is to nourish low-income students on the weekend by providing backpacks full of non-perishable food, and to inspire high school students to experience community service through project-based learning and gain an understanding of helping others in need. The grant will provide support to cover the costs of the backpacks throughout the year. Tracey Akers, Boomerang Backpacks adult coordinator for Warsaw Community Schools programs, said there were 435 backpacks distributed to six elementary schools last year including Claypool, Harrison, Jefferson, Leesburg, Lincoln and Madison. “It’s amazing that Riley has helped give us seed money to start the program and has given us money every year to help us, and we can’t thank them enough,” Akers said. The program provides free food during the school year to students who have an economically-challenged situation, Akers said.
