Forty-three-year-old Michael walked into the George Washington University Hospital Emergency Room complaining of chest pain. The Washington D.C. handyman had no health insurance but was not eligible for any financial assistance programs.
President's Message
Dear Supporters
On behalf of the board and our family, we are thankful for your support of our efforts to Save a Heart a Day.
In this update I thought I would give you insight to the performance of the Foundation. I have broken this down into 4 areas; Patient support, Financials, Programs and Outlook.
The goal of these updates is to give you an inside look at the way we run this Foundation. You are welcome to comment directly to me at This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. . I welcome your input and insight to any of the points mentioned in this update as well as anything that you see or read about regarding our Foundation.
Patient Support
Our goal each year is to provide a life saving cardiac procedure to a “working poor” individual who can not get the cardiac treatment they require due to the fact they do not have insurance or the financial means to pay. These individuals are not receiving any government support, they are truly the working person who has found themselves trapped in a decision to get life saving care and worry about their inability to pay for it.
We have a simple target and that is to Save a Heart a Day. Last year, we helped 116 individuals with lifesaving cardiac care. In addition, we screened over 1,000 people for cardiac disease and, on an ongoing basis, we screen over 400 people for cardiac disease in Los Angeles from our collaborate efforts with LAC+USC hospital.
In 2011, we will continue to strive to attain our goal of saving a patient a day. We have two upcoming international trips which are co-sponsored by our medical partners in Washington, DC and Tampa, FL. We will help over 50 kids in Africa and Jamaica.
Financials
Like many Foundations in this economic climate, we are watching very closely to how our donors are supporting us on an on-going basis. We are no different than any other Foundation who seeks support for helping others. Our financials are pretty straight forward. We have negotiated a preset rate with each of our facilities to support our patients. These great partners have dramatically lowered their costs, doctors have waived their fees and companies like St. Jude Medical have provided free products to support our patients. By having these three supporters, we are able to lower our costs to support a patient and effectively use our donations to support more people.
At the present time .78 cents of every dollar goes to patient services. The .22 cents remaining goes to our internal costs which are split between fundraising and management expenses. We have provided our most recent independent audit as well as our most current 990 form. Additionally, Charity Navigator, an independent charity evaluator has rated our Foundation 3 out of 4 stars in their evaluation. We continue to strive to be the best in our efforts to be efficient and use all donated funds for our patients.
The Foundation has 3 employees and contracts out the rest of our needs. We have managed this way for many years and will continue to operate in this manner as it allows the Foundation more flexibility to ramp up and down depending on the situation.
We will continue to look for ways to lower expenses and increase patient services as the opportunity presents itself.
Programs
The Foundation provides programs throughout the year that help support others affected by cardiac disease. We are thankful to the groups that have made a commitment to work with us to help save lives.
- In February we have several efforts going on to celebrate Heart Awareness month. We have offered information on heart healthy tips for those needing the latest information to live a healthy lifestyle.
- The Larry King Cardiac Foundation (LKCF) is sponsoring low-cost blood screenings in Tennessee through a collaboration with Life Line Screening, the nation’s leading provider of preventive health screenings.
- Save a Heart School Program: Working with local schools, the Foundation partners with a local hospital partner to teach kids of all ages about cardiac disease. The program helps explain the affects of good eating habits, exercise and visiting the doctor. In addition, the program includes a fundraising event where children have the opportunity to help save a life in their community. Bashaw Elementary is trying to raise $2,500 this month as part of the Larry King Cardiac Foundation's “Save a Heart a Day" campaign. A Bashaw parent received this life saving support from the foundation two years ago. Students can make a $5 donation and receive a Save a Heart wristband.
- The employees at Sage Software are working together to help save a life by doing fundraisers across their company. Please visit their tribute page to follow their efforts.
Outlook
It will continue to be a challenging time for our Foundation as it is with many across the United States. We are unique in that all donated funds go directly to individual patient care - we do not fund research or capital projects. Our mission is simple, Save a Heart a Day. So this year, we will be challenged to help more people that need support while seeking help from more supporters.
The bottom line is that we are able to support more people when we get more help from others. Every dollar helps!
Many of our supporters are now wearing the red band my father wore on a nightly basis when he was on CNN. While he is not interviewing on a regular basis anymore, the red band remains with him always. It symbolizes a young man's commitment to acknowledge his love of the father he lost to heart disease when he was only 11. Read more about Matthew.
We are committed to helping as many people as we can and we appreciate your support and welcome your comments.
Regards,
Larry King, Jr.
