Children's Hospital Los Angeles hosted its second annual Walk and Play L.A. to help improve the health of children. (Photo: Business Wire)
Community event raises more than $300 thousand to date in support of CHLA’s life-giving health care services
Children's Hospital Los Angeles (CHLA) hosted its second annual Walk and Play L.A. on Saturday, June 2, 2018, at the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum. The community event galvanized patients, their families and friends, and CHLA staff and faculty to walk in solidarity to help improve the health of children and raised more than $300 thousand to date.
This press release features multimedia. View the full release here: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20180619005171/en/
Children's Hospital Los Angeles hosted its second annual Walk and Play L.A. to help improve the health of children. (Photo: Business Wire)
“Walk and Play L.A. is about the community coming together in support of health care for our most precious resource – children,” says Children’s Hospital Los Angeles President and Chief Executive Officer Paul S. Viviano. “Every dollar raised at Walk and Play L.A. will support Children’s Hospital Los Angeles’ mission to create hope and build healthier futures, ensuring our patients receive the lifesaving and critical care they need.”
More than 1,500 participants and over 130 teams participated in the 3-kilometer walk around Exposition Park. In addition to the walk, the event featured a Family Festival featuring live entertainment by Camryn, School of Rock, JAGMAC, DJ Dense, Daniel Dudley from Radio Disney and DJ Roueche, as well as exclusive sports clinics hosted by professional athletes, including mixed martial artist Anderson Silva, coaches from the LA Galaxy, LA Kings alumni Daryl Evans, Matt Johnson and Pete Demers, Craig Mager and Geno Smith from the LA Chargers, and NFL alumni Terrell Thomas and Lawrence Jackson.
It was a personal affair for Jackson, who came to CHLA for asthma care when he was young and went on to play college football for USC and professionally in the NFL.
“I had breathing problems and serious allergies as a child, which made playing football a struggle early on,” says Jackson. “Children’s Hospital Los Angeles gave me the care and support I needed to step onto the football field and play at a high level, and for that I’ll always be grateful.”
Hosted by Coleen Sullivan and Rob Fukuzaki with ABC7, Walk and Play L.A. also included fun activities with Dion Jackson, LA Rams Cheerleaders, Rampage from LA Rams, LA Kings Ice Crew, Bailey from the LA Kings, the LA Galaxy Star Squad and our sponsors ABC7, ESPN Los Angeles, Radio Disney, 99 Ranch Market, KIND Snacks, NAS Insurance, New Era, Power Crunch, Premier Health Services, Sam’s Club, Skechers, Socialite and Wescom Credit Union.
The top fundraising teams were INIR Journey to Research, Rex and the Heart Beaters and Paws for a Cause. Together, the three teams raised more than $90 thousand for the hospital, supporting everything from innovative research to the Amerman Family Foundation Dog Therapy Program.
Donations can still be made at WalkandPlayLA.org through July 31, 2018. Donors can choose between 350 specialty programs and services at CHLA to help support. All undesignated funds will go to the Helping Hands Fund, which ensures that CHLA is able to provide critical, lifesaving care to every patient the hospital treats.
About Children's Hospital Los Angeles
Founded in 1901, Children's Hospital Los Angeles is ranked the top children’s hospital in California and sixth in the nation for clinical excellence with its selection to the prestigious U.S. News & World Report Honor Roll. Clinical care is led by physicians who are faculty members of the Keck School of Medicine of USC through an affiliation dating from 1932. The Saban Research Institute encompasses basic, translational and clinical research conducted at CHLA. For more information, follow us on Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn and Instagram, and visit our child health blog (CHLA.org/blog) and our research blog (ResearCHLABlog.org).
View source version on businesswire.com:
Children’s Hospital Los Angeles
Lauren Song
Office: (323)
361-3614
lasong@chla.usc.edu