AdventHealth Is Honored to Recognize Kids Beating Cancer As the Organization Marks 25 Years of Serving Children and Their Families. Kids Beating Cancer, Originally Known As the John Voight Memorial Foundation, Was Created With Two Objectives: To Pro

AdventHealth is honored to recognize Kids Beating Cancer as the organization marks 25 years of serving children and their families.

Kids Beating Cancer, originally known as the John Voight Memorial Foundation, was created with two objectives: to provide transplant treatment for children close to home without compromising the quality of care, and to support the families throughout the journey.

Kids Beating Cancers efforts manifest through three specific programs:

Fund the Match This removes the financial barriers to cancer treatment by paying for the cost for a child’s pre- bone-marrow transplant work-up, a cost of $10,000-$50,000 that is not covered by Medicaid. Fund the Match allows any child access to a cure.

My Room Custom hospital rooms are created with the child’s favorite characters or themes, giving them comfort and a sense of normalcy throughout their hospital stay.

Meals for Families Provides vouchers for families so parents don’t have to worry about the expense of eating out while their child is hospitalized. They have given more than $80,000 worth of meal vouchers.

Kids Beating Cancer is a phenomenal organization that looks after the whole patient body, mind and spirit and their entire family. The services they provide are priceless and are key to helping our most vulnerable patients during a very difficult time, said AdventHealth for Children Senior Executive Officer Marla Silliman.

Kids Beating Cancer has served more than 8,500 children, provided more than $100,000 in family meal vouchers, and funded $1.5 million in pre- bone-marrow transplant and transplant costs.

Our mission from day one has been to allow more children to have access to transplantation, to get it when they need it, and to have a top-level transplant center so we can treat every disease, not just the easier ones, said Kids Beating Cancer founder and President/CEO Margaret Guedes.

In 2011, Kids Beating Cancer established the Kids Beating Cancer Pediatric Transplant Center at AdventHealth for Children.

Kids Beating Cancer has been integral to our success, said Dr. David Shook, medical director of the Kids Beating Cancer Pediatric Transplant Center at AdventHealth for Children.

Its important for our families and for our children to know that they can focus on fighting their battle, Shook said. Kids Beating Cancer has really been critical in not only our medical success, but also keeping our families and communities together.

About Kids Beating Cancer

Kids Beating Cancer, "the only non-profit of its kind in America for 25 years", serves children diagnosed with cancer, leukemia, and 80 other life-threatening diseases. Kids Beating Cancer provides the best pediatric stem cell transplant treatment by supporting forefront protocols, offered at only a handful of centers nationwide, and family-centered patient support services at the Kids Beating Cancer Pediatric Transplant Center. Any child can come to the Kids Beating Cancer Center regardless of insurance coverage or the family’s financial means for the evaluation and potential transplant. Kids Beating Cancer pays for the transplant testing and donor identification, a minimal cost of $10,000 per child never covered by Medicaid and only partially covered by insurance. By removing these financial barriers, any child can have access to bone marrow and stem cell transplantation at the Kids Beating Cancer Pediatric Transplant Center, the best and only hope for a cure. For additional information, please call Kids Beating Cancer at Call407-894-2888 or visit www.kidsbeatingcancer.com or www.Facebook.com/kidsbeatingcancer.

For media inquiries only, call AdventHealth Corporate Communications at Call407-303-8217.

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