Children with disabilities will have improved access to life-changing therapies at KidsAbility – Centre for Child Development thanks to the group’s largest donation to-date.
The $1-million gift was pledged by the late Fred Stork and his wife, Ruth, to KidsAbility Foundation’s endowment campaign. Fred Stork died in October, not long after he and his wife pledged their support. That represents the largest gift ever received by KidsAbility.
“Although we are obviously thrilled to be celebrating a gift of this magnitude, we are deeply saddened by Mr. Stork’s passing and that we cannot personally recognize him for his unwavering philanthropic spirit,” said Elaine Ormston, chairman of the KidsAbility Foundation endowment campaign. “This gift will impact thousands of children and families locally, and we are forever grateful to the Stork family for their unprecedented generosity.”
To honour the Storks, the pavilion at KidsAbility will be renamed the Fred and Ruth Stork Pavilion.
KidsAbility Foundation embarked upon a $10-million endowment campaign in 2004, aimed at providing a source of guaranteed funding that will help it provide high-quality services to children with disabilities in Waterloo Region and Wellington County.
Gifts that are made to the endowment are invested, with the principal being held in perpetuity.
Since 2004, approximately $5-million has been pledged in endowment gifts. Such funding assists in bridging the gap between government funding and actual program costs. Last year, the provincial government announced a funding freeze to children and youth services organizations and has indicated that will be echoed in next year’s provincial budget.
“We are so fortunate to live in a community that believes that every child deserves to be given the opportunity to leap towards a bright future,” said Lisa Talbot, executive director of KidsAbility Foundation. “Every dollar is so important to us, and we are so grateful to our community for partnering with us to provide hope to our kids and their families.”
This year the KidsAbility Foundation must raise $945,000 for its annual Kids Can’t Wait campaign. Funds will be used to help fund physical, occupational, and speech therapy for over 4,000 children that are seen at its locations in Waterloo, Cambridge, Fergus, and Guelph. To-date, $753,610 has been raised, and Talbot is cautiously optimistic that the goal with be reached.
KidsAbility provides a wide range of services to over 4,000 children with disabilities in Waterloo Region and Wellington County. KidsAbility serves children in the following three broad categories of disability:
– Physical disabilities such as cerebral palsy, spina bifida and muscular dystrophy;
– Developmental delays such as premature babies, Down syndrome, Autism, coordination disorders, and other rare medical syndromes; and
– Communication disorders such as dysfluency, articulation and language deficits.
The services include physiotherapy, occupational therapy, speech-language therapy, psychology, therapeutic recreation, early childhood education, augmentative communication, seating and mobility, social work, infant hearing services, medical services, education, and autism services.
In addition to its current caseload, KidsAbility has a waiting list of about 1,200 children under the age of 4.
