Valley Children’s annual Kids Day fundraiser is back. And so are the street-side volunteers
Valley Children’s Hospital has been running its annual Kids Day fundraiser for nearly 40 years.
The day — Tuesday, March 7 this year — has long been recognized for its volunteers who take to the streets before sunrise in bright-colored vests and smiles, soliciting donations for the hospital to put directly back to its core mission of providing healthcare to children in the Central Valley.
“We have a pretty auspicious vision here at Valley Children’s,” says David Christensen, the hospital’s senior vice president and chief physician executive.
“Kids Day is a a big part of that.”
When Christensen points out the hospital was one of the few nationwide recently honored by Leapfrog Group for its exceptional achievements in patient safety and quality of care (for a third time), or that its extracorporeal life support program has patient outcomes in the top 10% to 15% in the world compared to other such centers, he does it with the understanding that community support makes those things happen.
The money raised on Kids Day, Christensen says, “allows us to do things that we couldn’t do otherwise.”
All proceeds from the day go directly toward programs to improve patient care. Donations from last year helped the hospital’s precision medicine, pediatric plastic surgery and neuro-oncology programs and funded child life, adaptive sports and spiritual support services.
During the pandemic, Kids Day went on a “virtual” hiatus, with donations taken online via the hospital website or via mobile, through a $10 text donation.
Those options still remain. Credit and debit card donations can be made in any amount at valleychildrens.org/kidsday. An automatic $10 donation can be made by texting “GEORGE” to 20222.
But the volunteers will be back on the streets this year.
More than 2,000 people have signed up to sell special Kids Days postcards. The cards are being offered at a $1 suggested donation and will feature QR codes that direct users to patient stories and other information about the hospital.
The volunteers will be out starting at 6 a.m., so you may see them on your morning commute, though some of the well-known gathering spots — like the so-called “Celebrity Corner” at Shaw and Blackstone avenues — won’t be back until next year, the hospital says.
“People can always donate money to the hospital, and they do,” Christensen says, but the idea that thousands of people are willing to come together on this one day for this kind of shared purpose is something unmatched in any community that he’s seen.
“It definitely has a legacy and we definitely want to continue that.”
Last year, Kids Day raised $318,288. That surpassed the goal for the year and the 2021 total of $270,955 raised.
In all, Kids Day has raised more than $10.7 million for the hospital’s Children’s Fund since the fundraiser’s inception in 1988.
Kids Day is once again sponsored by The Bee and ABC30.
This story was originally published March 4, 2023 at 5:30 AM.