KIDstruction: Personal Stories Make a Difference
Date Posted: October 22, 2015
Posted In: News, Organizations,
by Tom Finan, Executive Director, Construction Forum STL
It’s the personal stories that make the difference with the Children’s Hospital “KIDstruction” fundraising effort. Otherwise it’s all just numbers.
Not to say that the numbers aren’t impressive. Wednesday the KIDstruction presented a check for $265,000. That number blew past the $250,000 goal set by KIDstruction Chair Pat Kozeny, president of Kozeny Wagner, and was up from last year’s total of $224,000.
A total of 126 companies participated in the program, with 46 of them matching employee contributions. In addition to corporate contributions, 1,850 construction employees representing 71 companies made individual contributions. Contributions ranged from $1 per hour worked during KIDstruction week in August up.
And then there are the stories:
- One of the committee members leaving the meeting was headed to Toys ‘R Us with his wife to buy toys to restock a toy closet at Children’s. Today (Thursday) is the fourth anniversary of his son’s death from leukemia at Children’s. His son would have been nine two weeks ago. “He loved that toy closet,” the committee member said.
- In 2005, while visiting her cousins in California, Chair Pat Kozenys’ 10-year-old daughter Elizabeth was diagnosed with anaplastic ependymoma, a very rare and aggressive form of brain cancer. “We were devastated,” he says, “and naturally were willing to travel the globe to find the best of the best for her. As it turns out, we had that in Dr. Josh Rubin, right here in St. Louis.”
- Earlier this week, Kathryn Lodes, the special events coordinator at Children’s who directs the strategic and logistical support behind the campaign received a call from the president of a subcontracting firm which has given to the campaign for five years. He had asked his employees to participate some years, and other years had just written a check. But the importance of his company’s participation was driven home last week when a newborn nephew, born in Alton, was diagnosed with a spinal abnormality. The child was immediately transported to the the NICU at Children’s.
KIDstruction is looking for similar stories for the 2016 KIDstruction program. If you, or someone in your company, has been touched by St. Louis Children’s Hospital and would be willing to share that story, please contact Kathryn Lodes at Kathryn.Lodes@bjc.org, or 314.286.0976.
KIDstruction Week proceeds support important programs and services at St. Louis Children’s Hospital like the Pediatric Neurocritical Care Program, Children’s Discovery Institute, Healthy Kids Express, Family Resource Center, and Music Therapy.