The Kansas Health Foundation is a private philanthropy dedicated to improving the health of all Kansans.

Three years into its Turn a Page. Touch a Mind. literacy campaign, the Kansas Pediatric Foundation (KPF) has raised more than $1 million from Kansas donors to create a permanent endowment fund. By reaching this fund-raising milestone, the KPF, which serves as the charitable arm of the Kansas Chapter of the American Academy of Pediatrics (KAAP), has secured a $1 million challenge grant from the Kansas Health Foundation.

Turn a Page. Touch a Mind. is a unique program that partners with pediatricians, family physicians and other primary care practitioners to provide developmentally appropriate books and advice to parents about the importance of reading to and interacting with their children. Practitioners incorporate this information into each well-child visit for children ages six months to five years, and also provide a book that the family can take home.

“We currently have 20 early literacy sites in 14 communities across Kansas,” said Chris Steege, executive director of KAAP. “With more than 46,000 books already distributed in the first three years of the program, we are hearing positive feedback from parents and health professionals alike.”

The $2 million endowment will be used to purchase books to allow the physicians to continue the program.

“The program serves to remind parents that healthy means more than just getting vaccinations,” said Dennis Cooley, a Topeka-based pediatrician who co-chaired the campaign along with Paul Nelson of Concordia. “Reading to children at an early age is essential to healthy development and success in life.”

According to Steege, even though this initial endowment milestone has been reached, fund raising will continue in order to bolster the program. For more information on the literacy campaign, and to find out how you can help, visit the Kansas Pediatric Foundation's Web site.

Since 1993 students in the Kansas City area have been discovering their talents and learning new skills through the 20/20 Leadership program, an experimental learning opportunity for high school juniors and seniors.

Originally established to serve the nine high schools in Wyandotte County, the program has now expanded to include more than 270 students in 20 high schools across Wyandotte and Johnson County in Kansas and Jackson County in Missouri. Today, its mission is to educate and expose students to community issues, develop personal and leadership skills and build community-wide relationships.

“Students that come into this program are asked to make a major commitment, both in terms of time and effort,” said executive director Marilyn Alstrom, who has been with the program since its inception. “It’s then up to them to take it seriously and make the most of the opportunity.”

For their efforts, students are able to gain firsthand experience with entrepreneurship, economics, finance, and the workings of local and state government. They are also presented with a number of college and career development opportunities, including job fairs and other networking events.

In addition to what they get out of the program, the students also spend plenty of time giving back to their schools and communities. One current community service initiative is funded in part by a Kansas Health Foundation recognition grant. This project involves the students producing a series of 30-minute video presentations designed to increase awareness and action among their peers on a number of health and teen-related topics.

“There are so many opportunities available to students through this program, and we’re pleased more and more are becoming active,” Alstrom said. “In fact, we’re now to a point where a number of our board members are graduates of the program who are volunteering their time to help others succeed.“

To find out more about the 20/20 Leadership program, please click here.

The Foundation is once again gearing up for the spring cycle of its recognition grants program, with an application deadline of March 17. This is a competitive grants process open to any tax-exempt, nonprofit organization using the funds for charitable purposes and proposing a project meeting the Foundation's mission to improve the health of all Kansans.

Recognition grants are grants of up to $25,000 and are specifically targeted to grassroots groups doing innovative and meaningful work that fits within the Foundation's mission. This program serves as the Foundation’s main avenue for funding unsolicited requests.

To download a recognition grant application, or to learn more about the program, please visit the recognition grants section of the Foundation's Web site.

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