By Jun Ashley | Project Manager
Dear Donors,
We hope everyone is enjoying the beginning of spring. At A Life A Time Foundation, we have continued to be active with our Boston Trauma Fund (the “Fund”), which we have reported on in some of our previous quarterly reports. The Fund was established in October 2015 to provide financial support to children who have the opportunity to come to America to receive free medical treatment at Shriners Hospital for Children, located in Boston. Those children accepted under this program have suffered severe trauma but come from families in China with minimal financial resources. Even though all of the medical treatments are free, these families still are not able to afford the related travel and living expenses. All proceeds from the Fund are provided to these children and their accompanying family members to cover their travel expenses to the United States and their living expenses during their stay.
Currently, there are 17 children that have been accepted into this program with Shriners Hospital for Children in Boston. Most of these children require a yearly visit to undergo skin grafting and/or functional/cosmetic reconstruction or installation/adjustment of their artificial limbs. Each child typically stays for a period of two to three months in the United States, with more complicated cases requiring stays ranging from six months to one year.
Our volunteers and donors in the Boston area have helped these children and their families tremendously - arranging travel plans and accommodations, visiting children and helping with living needs, such as providing transportation and helping with groceries while they are in the United States. In addition, these volunteers also organize fundraising activities.
A Life A Time Foundation provides support to finance flight tickets, accommodations and living expenses for these children and their family members when they visit Boston for treatments. Below is a summary of the Fund’s donations and expenses since its inception. In 2018, we supported 15 children, nearly doubled from the number in 2017.
Year Donations Expenses No. of Kids Supported
2015 $3,618.40 $0.00 0
2016 $4,209.00 $3,595.52 3
2017 $20,436.88 $9,320.57 8
2018 $24,605.77 $34,369.49 15
Total: $52,870.05 $47,285.58
We estimate 15 children will visit Boston for surgeries and treatments this year. Because they usually stay for 2-3 months and their treatments or surgeries are subject to change based on doctor decisions regarding each child’s condition and recovery progress, the exact length of their stays can be unpredictable. Arranging accommodations can be difficult with all sorts of factors to be considered, including cost, living conditions, wheelchair access, and distance to hospitals and/or public transportation. So for this year, Boston Trauma Fund has decided to sign a one-year lease instead of looking at short-term options. This will provide more stability in terms of housing, but also increase costs. We estimate that the Fund will need to raise another $25,000.00 to support the estimated 15 children who are visiting Boston for surgeries and treatments.
We sincerely hope our generous donors can join our fundraising effort to help us raise sufficient funds to support the children who are coming to the United States this year. You can donate through either the GlobalGiving platform or our direct Fund link.
To donate directly at GlobalGiving: https://www.globalgiving.org/projects/a-life-a-time-chinese-orphans-children-medical-fund/ - Please note your donation is for Boston Trauma Fund
Sincerely,
A Life A Time Foundation
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