Mark Price, slid himself off his bed in the Adolescent Unit, pulled on his children’s hospital robe and left his room clutching his IV pole for support. He was fifteen, but looked twelve: a small pale stick figure whose clothes hung loosely off his body. Sixty for pounds from first admission Thursday -December, 23- and barely standing five feet tall, his body riddled with disease. His teeth were yellowed from years of antibiotics, and his finger nails enlarged from chronic oxygen deprivation, most of Mark’s energy was spent was spent trying to breathe and cough up mucus. The effort was strenuous enough to reshape his ribs giving him pigeon breast. Mark had Cystic Fibrosis.

I believe that children are our future and it is important to keep them healthy. Sick children are a pressing issue that everyone should take part in the prevention of. To start with, children who are sick usually aren’t very comfortable being so, they also may not have enough money to pay for treatment for their sickness or worst case scenario almost
Incurable disease. Children who suffer from illness also may enable to attend school leaving them less educated then some of the healthier children.

“Respiratory diseases-asthma and pneumonia- are among the top 10 reasons of hospitalizations among all pediatric age groups in the hospital for illness.” ("Most Common Reasons for Hospitalization for Pediatric Illness by Age Group." U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. N.p., 13 Apr. 2011. Web. 13 Apr. 2011. http://www.ahrq.gov/data/hcup/factbk4/factbk4.htm.) Children who have diseases, are usually very uncomfortable, and some can’t even withstand the pain that their diseases come with.

We-being my group and I- can help prevent such discomfort by eventually visiting at a children a local hospital. By visiting these children we are more than likely to brighten up their days just a little and help them forget about the pain, even if it is only for a short time. We might even be able to visit some children in hospitals that aren’t local, such as Doernbecher Children’s Hospital in Portland, Oregon.

“More than 40 million people in the United States say they cannot afford adequate heath care and go without drugs, eyeglasses or dental treatment.” ("Over 40 million in U.S. can't afford health care: report." Reuters. N.p., 13 Apr. 2011. Web. 13 Apr. 2011. http://www.reuters.com/article/2007/12/03/us-usa-idUSN0343703420071203.) Millions of parents cannot afford adequate health care for their children or even for themselves. Which makes it extremely difficult for children to get the proper care that they need, some more desperately then others.

As I said before there are millions of parents that cannot afford health care for their children, although if they can afford health care of any kind it usually not enough. This project will provide an opportunity for my group and I to help. How will we help you might ask, our intentions are clear, we hope to raise enough money to help children in local hospitals with the some of their medical bills. Now I know that this is a huge thing to ask of ourselves, but with enough rigorous fund raising and determination I am sure that we can at least help one child in the tiniest bit.

“Some studies indicate American school children miss over 350,000 days of school each year, with causes ranging from the lightest set of sniffles to the most serious illnesses.” ("How Families Can Manage Their Children's Sick Days Home From School." Buzzle.com. N.p., 2011. Web. 13 Apr. 2011. http://www.buzzle.com/articles/how-families-can-manage-their-childrens-sick-days-home-from-school-part-one.html.) Thousands of children in the U.S. miss thousands of days of school each year, for anything from the common cold to cancer. Missing this many days of school-especially for the more critically ill children- leaves these kids less educated then your average healthy child.

This is by far the hardest part of the project