Racing star’s grant to help children stay connected during treatment
The Jeff Gordon Children’s Foundation has awarded the Monroe Carell Jr. Children's Hospital at Vanderbilt its annual Promise Circle Grant to support patients treated for cancer.
The grant will fund Children’s Hospital’s new Learning for Life initiative, a school support program that helps elementary, middle and high school students maintain academic progress and social connectedness both during and after their treatments. Funds will also allow Children’s Hospital to study the impact of the pilot program.
Children’s Hospital was one of five recipients of this year’s Promise Circle Grant Program, which awards $65,000 to five organizations.
“We are very grateful for the generous support of the Jeff Gordon Children’s Foundation,” said Debra Friedman, M.D., director of the Division of Pediatric Hematology and Oncology at Children’s Hospital.
“The Promise Circle Grant will allow our Learning for Life program to continue providing integrated care for children undergoing difficult cancer treatments throughout their cancer journey.
“We want to make sure that children remain successful in school and connected to their friends and classmates throughout treatment and beyond.
“This unique program will help us create a roadmap for educational attainment that parallels the roadmap to recovery from cancer,” Friedman said.