In 1925, a little girl from North Dakota came to us for care. Her story is preserved in our archives, and I want to share it because it tells us something fundamental about who we are at Children’s Minnesota and who we have always been.
The girl had polio. She was one of 13 children, and her parents could not afford the cost of her treatment. But a woman from a nearby town arranged to bring the girl by train to our St. Paul hospital, with the railroad covering their trip. A St. Paul civic organization paid for the girl’s hospital stay, and a civic group in the girl’s hometown covered the cost of the leg brace she needed to walk.
When the girl completed her treatment, the railroad brought her grandmother to St. Paul and carried the two back home at no cost. The account in our archives ends with this cheerful update: “The child is now able to walk and will be able to return to school, and is going to have a perfectly good leg.”
So many people came together to change the course of this one life. They made the impossible possible. That same spirit of generosity has shaped Children’s Minnesota for more than a century.
The same spirit, a century later
Our generous community has always powered our work. Hundreds of thousands of individuals, families, foundations and organizations have contributed gifts large and small, from major philanthropic investments to books, toys and everyday acts of generosity that make an enormous difference for patients and families.
As an independent nonprofit health system, Children’s Minnesota isn’t accountable to shareholders. Rather, we are accountable to our community. We reinvest resources in our mission so we can serve families for generations to come. Payment systems, whether private or public, do not cover everything children and families need to heal. Philanthropy helps us care for the whole family. And it fuels research and innovation, so we can be prepared for the health challenges and promises of the future.
Bringing the future of care closer to home
We are proud to have received a historic $35 million gift from philanthropist Tom Golisano. His generosity comes at a crucial moment in pediatrics when scientific breakthroughs are making treatment possible for some of the toughest health conditions that affect children. The gift will help us bring advances like precision medicine closer to the kids we serve, so families won’t have to travel to other cities for the treatment they need. Kids can stay close to home, near their parents, siblings, friends, school and the familiar comforts that make a hard time feel less scary.
The Golisano gift, and all gifts we receive from our donors, show us that our community believes that every child deserves the best possible chance for a healthy future. Most donors will never meet the children whose lives they change. They give anyway.
That is the beauty of philanthropy.
It still takes a community
I am deeply grateful to Tom Golisano and to every person who has invested in the health of our children. A century ago, it took a community to help a little girl from North Dakota get the care she needed. It still does. Together, our community will keep making outstanding care for kids possible.
Learn more about how you can make a difference.
Emily Chapman, MD
President and CEO of Children’s Minnesota
With more than 30 years in pediatric health care, Dr. Chapman is deeply committed to delivering exceptional care and experiences for patients, their families, staff and the community.
Follow Dr. Chapman on LinkedIn.
