Our patient families continuously inspire us with their courage, bravery and ability to stay positive during trying times. Through CHOP’s peer-to-peer online fundraising pages, this inspiration can spread quickly across a patient’s communities and build philanthropic and emotional support.

Crowdfunding is an increasingly popular method of raising money from a large number of people, typically by way of online donations. At Children’s Hospital, it has become an effective grassroots advocacy tool for research and clinical funding. Many people use CHOP’s fundraising pages to campaign for funds that can further treatments for the diseases affecting their family members and friends.

Valentina Fundraising Pages Valentina Allen’s family, for instance, has raised more than $160,000 from 806 donors in just a few months to support the Cardiac Center. After battling hypoplastic left heart syndrome (HLHS), Valentina passed away on May 12, 2015, at 2 years old, leaving a loving family and community behind in Queens, NY. Her memory lives on through the campaign “Team Valentina: Half a Heart but Twice the Fight.” The Allen family continues to raise awareness and funds so that fewer children will have to experience a fatal heart condition as Valentina did. The Facebook page that accompanies the campaign has 3,603 followers and chronicles the Allen family’s journey of coping and bringing supporters together.

Personalized fundraising pages like the Allens’ have helped to educate readers about countless diseases in patients’ communities. Fundraising pages also provide an avenue for family, friends and community members to show their support for a child and his or her family. Valentina’s family certainly feels the love displayed on its fundraising page, where people make donations and leave notes.

CHOP fundraising pages have raised more than $2.3 million for the Hospital since 2008.

Find a CHOP fundraising page or create your own at giving.chop.edu/fundraisingpages