This evening we were visited by Abby Verchick from UNC Health Foundation. Abby is the Assistant Director of Development. Our club has been making donations to UNC Children’s Hospitals for several years so it made sense to invite Abby to tell our members a bit more about how that money and those gifts are used. And she started by thanking us for our support over the years, of course.
The UNC Health Foundation’s mission encompasses clinical care, advocacy, Research and Education at the highest levels. Although they are a children’s research institute they still do more than 7,000 surgeries each year. The hospital is also a Level 1 NICU and a Level 1 Pediatric Trauma Center. Abby shared many other statistics about the hospital and the care provided, too.
One of the donations our club has made annually is thermometers. These go home with patients and can be a critical tool for recovering patients to monitor for high temperature which could indicate fever or something more serious that requires immediate medical attention. We have also donated many toys and gift cards for the children and their families as well. Abby thanked us for our continued generosity.