For 100 years, the Auxiliaries have devoted their energy, talent, and passion to ensure that our community’s children receive the medical care they need. An integral part of Lucile Packard Children’s Hospital Stanford’s mission and history, Auxiliary members have raised millions of dollars and devoted countless hours of service to support the care of children.
The first Auxiliary, now known as the Charter Auxiliary, was created in 1919 to support the Stanford Home for Convalescent Children, where children could recuperate in the sunshine on the site of the Stanford family home in Palo Alto. Over the decades as the “Con Home” and then the children’s hospital expanded, so did the Auxiliaries.
Today nearly 1,000 members spanning seven Auxiliaries from San Francisco to San Jose support the hospital through a range of activities, including a regal annual gala, a thriving thrift shop, a restaurant and retail complex, fashion shows and teas, rummage sales, and the hospital Gift Shop. Many more volunteers provide direct service to patients and families through a variety of Affiliates.
“In my role as chief of staff, I never had to turn away a child because of a family’s inability to pay, and that is because of the Auxiliaries,” says Harvey Cohen, MD, PhD, the Deborah E. Addicott – John A. Kriewall and Elizabeth A. Haehl Family Professor in Pediatrics, who served as chief of staff at Packard Children’s from 1993 to 2006. “They have been steadfastly loyal, giving not just their money and their time, but their heart and their true support for children’s health.”
Last year alone, the Auxiliaries raised nearly $3.5 million to support patient care and vital family and community resources. In addition, the Auxiliaries Endowment, made up of generous gifts from individual members, has grown to $22 million and provides invaluable funding to launch and sustain resources such as the Teen Health Van and the Family Guidance and Bereavement Program.
In April, Auxiliary members gathered at Sharon Heights Golf and Country Club to celebrate all they have accomplished and look ahead to the future. Here’s to another 100 years! Thank you, Auxiliaries, for your decades of devotion and generosity!
To join the Auxiliaries or learn more, visit supportLPCH.org/Auxiliaries.
This article originally appeared in the Spring 2019 issue of Packard Children’s News.