Ranchers and farmers are known for forming close-knit communities whose members look out for one another. When someone is ill or can’t harvest their land, they offer their assistance and equipment because they see themselves as family.

Nowhere else is this abundant generosity and way of life more evident than in our Valley, with its deep agricultural roots and reputation as the lush “food basket of the world.” People naturally go out of their way to lend a helping hand, give an encouraging word or champion a cause.

Our own Children’s Hospital is a prime example of such kindness. When five caring mothers spearheaded the movement to build what is still the only medical facility for sick and injured kids in the region, the community realized the importance of investing long-term in our youth. The “family” pulled together. The family got it done.

The founding mothers knew a centuries-old truth from their experience: healthy crops are dependent upon the right soil to develop a strong foundation. With ample support from The Guilds of Children’s Hospital and the community, they plowed and tended the “soil,” ensuring the right “nutrients” – people, equipment and services – were deep-seated.

 And so the seed they planted lovingly some 60 years ago continues to flourish. Every day our community family invests in our kids’ health. They contribute – large and small – in funds, resources and time. Their gifts finance essential services and growth that enable Children’s to continue attracting top-notch pediatric specialists and providing excellent pediatric care in more than 40 subspecialties. They help create the right conditions for our kids to “grow well.”

The stories that you’ll read here represent the result of such careful nurturing. For instance, when Anna Barcelos came to Children’s as a toddler with webbed fingers and toes, she felt embarrassed about her hands and feet. She felt especially sad that she couldn’t wear flip-flops like other kids. But Dr. Peter Witt, medical director of plastic surgery at Children’s, not only improved Anna’s ability to function, he also made it possible for her to wear the fun summer shoe.

Anna already had been through a lot. Born with amniotic band syndrome, a rare condition caused by strands of the amniotic sac that entangle fingers, limbs or other parts of the fetus in the womb, she was abandoned as an infant in a cardboard box in China. The little girl’s luck turned when the Barcelos family from Fresno took her in, and their nearby Children’s Hospital had the expertise and skill to make her better.

 Like anyone in agriculture, Children’s needs to plan for the future and be prepared for off years. In our recently completed $42 million Campaign for Children’s, we announced the necessary effort in the middle of an unprecedented economic crisis, yet people still rallied to help. Even in hard times, our donors across 10 counties understood the importance of responding to the area’s need for increasingly advanced pediatric medical treatment at Children’s.

Continued support is even more critical now. With the rising cost of medical care, declining revenue and federal budget cuts, the future appears uncertain and challenging. However, we can be certain of several things: our children like Anna and others described here will always need expert medical care, and the Hospital will always do what it can.

We also know when it comes to investing in the well-being of our current and future generations – ensuring what Children’s Hospital’s founding mothers planted – the family will pull together. The family will get it done. It always has.

Thank you!