Walk with the Heart of a Child
Walk with the Heart of a Child is a 3K fun filled event designed to raise money to help Children’s Heart Foundation assist families in Nevada whose children have been touched by heart conditions. Area families and businesses are encouraged to form Teams and host friendly competitions to raise money and awareness. Walk with the Heart of a Child is a high-energy celebration with a Kids Zone and access to numerous vendors. During this event, teams gather at the Fashion Show Mall to walk in celebration and remember all of the children who fight heart conditions, and to unite the community through awareness. This event is held the last Saturday of February at the Fashion Show Mall.
Fall Festival / Picnic – Las Vegas and Reno
Las Vegas – Hosted in conjunction with Southern Highlands Fall Festival, our Fall Family Picnic is a free, fun day in the park with lots of activities including trick or treating, costume contest, pumpkin patch, dance contest, raffle and prizes. Heart families are invited to visit us at our booth and receive a free t-shirt, lunch and crafts for the kids. This event is held each year at the Goett Family Park in Southern Highlands in October.
Reno – Free, fun day in the park with activities such as badminton, volleyball and crafts. Heart families are invited to attend and feel connected to others in the community
Food for the Heart
Food for the Heart provides baskets of comfort food to the families of children in the NICU and PICU at Sunrise Hospital. The baskets contain items such as soup, oatmeal, hot chocolate, tea, breakfast bars, and other snack items. All the items can be prepared and eaten in the family waiting rooms of the NICU and PICU so that family members have some food available without having to take time away from their child.
Izzy’s Clothing Donations
Izzy gathers season appropriate clothing for heart kids whose family is financially needy. The clothing is cleaned, sorted into sizes and delivered to Children’s Heart Center. The clothing is given to needy families through Children’s Heart Center’s social worker. This programs provides assistance in an immediate and meaningful way, at the very moment a family is in crisis and needs the simplest of necessities.
Family Assistance
Children’s Heart Foundation is fortunate to have the assistance of Irma Casanova, the medical social worker on staff with the Children’s Heart Center, to help us use our family assistance resources in the most efficient and beneficial way, to maximize our assistance to heart families in need. She earned her Master’s degree in Social Work from Wayne State University. She did her undergraduate work at Eastern Michigan University. Medical social work in pediatrics has been her career for twenty three years and she loves advocating for the less fortunate. Irma is an integral part of our Family Assistance and administers the following services and products to our families.
Hospital Meal Tickets – Meal tickets for the hospital cafeteria are provided to families with hospitalized children, this assistance is provided to any heart family regardless of their financial situation.
Financial Assistance – Financial assistance is provided by Children’s Heart Foundation in a new diagnosis or crisis situation by helping families with food, medical travel expenses, and prescriptions. This assistance is provided to heart families who demonstrates great financial hardship.
Social Services Assistance - Irma from Children’s Heart Center has gathered a wealth of resources that she utilizes for heart families. Based on the particular needs of the family, Irma connects families to areas of support that may fall outside of Children’s Heart Foundation’s perimeters.
Heart & Soul Support Group
Children’s Heart Foundation hosts a Heart and Soul Discussion group which is a cost-free support discussion group for families who have children with congenital heart issues. Diagnosis of a heart condition can be shocking and it is important for families to gather together to share their experiences and talk. Food and drinks are provided. Under the direction of Dr. Beth Creel, the discussion group meets the second Friday of each month from 5 to 6:30 p.m. on the 4th floor at Children’s Heart Center, 3006 South Maryland Parkway, Suite 455, Las Vegas, NV 89109.
Holiday Family Adoption
During the holiday season, families are identified who are struggling financially due to the hardships of having a child with a cardiology diagnosis. These families are matched with donors who provide gifts for all the children in the family plus gift certificates to provide a special holiday meal for the family. This fun event is held each December.
