The Connecticut Sports Foundation has chosen 4-year-old Abbie Brouker of Unionville as the recipient of a portion of funds raised during the third annual Ride America indoor cycling fundraiser Feb. 26,
Abbie was diagnosed with high risk acute lymphoblastic leukemia at the age of 16 months. After further testing, she was also diagnosed with a very rare sub-type called myeloid leukemia lineage and traditional treatments would not beat this cancer. In 2008, Abbie and her family moved to Boston where she received a bone marrow transplant. She persevered with great strength but she continues to go to Connecticut Children’s Medical Center every other week for blood draws and a check-ups.
Since the cycling fundraiser began in 2008, it has raised more than $125,000 for Connecticut cancer patients and their families. The Connecticut Sports Foundation is a non-profit organization, whose mission is financial assistance to Connecticut families for rent, mortgage payments, utilities, car payments, medical co-pays, food, medications, fuel and transportation to medical appointments for the benefit of the cancer patient and their family. CSF has granted more than $3 million to Connecticut families stricken with cancer since its inception.Â
The event’s participants pedal the equivalent distance of traveling back and forth across America in one day. The fundraiser requires each participant to pedal 6,000 miles, either individually, or as a team. The event is held at Malibu Fitness in Farmington.
Aetna Awards Grant
Aetna has awarded a $15,000 grant to support the Center for Children’s Advocacy’s Medical-Legal Partnership Project’s work to reduce racial and ethnic health disparities among black and Hispanic children in Hartford.
The project’s attorneys are on site at the six major children’s health care providers in Hartford, working with pediatricians and other medical professionals to improve health care for children living in poverty.
With the support of Aetna, the partnership is developing an institutional curriculum and consultation service at Connecticut Children’s Medical Center and at St. Francis Hospital and Medical Center, to help healthcare providers recognize children with disabilities and assist in securing access to specialized care and services. This pilot project targeting disabled children is the first of its kind in Connecticut, and makes it a priority to directly address factors that impede the health of Hartford’s low income children.
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Muscle Walk at Mohegan Sun
More than 1,000 walkers and people using wheelchairs and scooters are expected to participate March 12 in the first Mohegan Sun Southern New England MDA Muscle Walk at Mohegan Sun in Uncasville. The event is expected to raise more than $50,000 to help area residents with Muscular Dystrophy, ALS and related muscle diseases served by the Muscular Dystrophy Association.
Muscle Walk participants and Muscle Walk teams can register for the event by visiting www.joinmda.org/2011mohegan sunmusclewalk; by contacting the local MDA office at 203 248-6500; or by registering on-site by 9:30 a.m. March 12. Individuals and teams are encouraged to raise at least $74 in donations, the cost to fund one minute of MDA research seeking treatments and cures for muscle diseases.
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NONPROFITS LOBBY AT CAPITOL
Officials from Community Mental Health Affiliates Inc. were among those advancing the cause of nonprofits during the Connecticut Association of Nonprofits Week at the capitol in Hartford on Feb. 8. Pictured are, from left, Alyssa Goduti, vice president of public policy at the state Community Providers Association; Anne Ruwet, a state representative and president and CEO of the Central CT Association for Retarded Citizens; Ray Gorman, CMHA president and CEO; and Deborah Heinrich, special advisor to the governor on nonprofit services.
