Thanks to the continued support of our event participants, sponsors and the community in general, The Brian Ahearn Children’s Fund has distributed over $835,000 to a more than 450 families since April of 1999. In addition, the BACF has awarded $55,000 via The Brian Ahearn Memorial Scholarship to local college-bound seniors. The following are some recent examples of how the Children’s Fund has helped:
- A 3 year old from Newburgh with a brain tumor
- A 5 year old from Middletown with autism, severe allergies, seizures, and no sense of fear
- A 2 year old New Windsor girl with Wilm’s Tumor.
- An 11 year old Central Valley boy with Leukemia.
- A 17 year-old Goshen High School student with Osteosarcoma.
- A Middletown family with two children diagnosed with Cornelia De Lang Syndrome, resulting in severe disabilities including the use of feeding tubes for sustenance.
- A Washingtonville family with two school aged children who lost their mother to cancer.
- A 16 year-old Warwick girl who was orphaned when her mother died in a house fire.
- A 12 year-old Monroe girl who has been in a coma for three months as a result of anaphylactic shock due to a severe allergic reaction.
- A 9 month-old Highland Falls boy diagnosed shortly after birth with Down Syndrome, and other complications that required open heart surgery and 80 days in intensive care.
- A 5 year-old Montgomery girl with Rett Syndrome, which involves loss of all motor skills, seizures and other maladies.
- A Warwick family with two very young children who lost their mother to cancer.
- A 2 year-old Monroe girl who has undergone several surgeries due to a condition known as SMA type 1. She also requires 24 hour nursing care.
- A 6 year-old Goshen girl with a brain tumor.
- A 16 year-old Rock Tavern boy with brain cancer.
- A 13 year-old Greenwood Lake boy with Ewing’s Sarcoma.
- A 1 year-old Cornwall girl with severe brain damage due to Neuropathic Gaucher’s Syndrome – Type 11. She is on a ventilator and requires 24 hour nursing care.
- A 2 month-old Monticello girl with Cleft Lip and Palate which required 4 surgeries in the first few months of her life.
- A Campbell Hall family with four school aged children whose father died in an accident.
- A Monroe family with two young children who lost everything in fire that destroyed their home
