The La Crescenta Woman’s Club hosted Camille Levee of Glendale Healthy Kids at the club’s monthly luncheon and program held on April 14.
Levee is executive director of Glendale Healthy Kids, an organization that was formed in 1994 to meet the need of providing medical services for low income and under-insured children in the greater Glendale area. Originally started by helping students from five schools, the service has since expanded to cover kids from La Cañada through Sunland, then reaching south through the Eagle Rock area.
Arguably it is cheaper to promote good health rather than curing sick patients without proper medical coverage.       Without adequate medical insurance, children were either not taken to a doctor or were taken to an emergency room for help at an average cost of $7,000 a visit. Though families could not pay for that service, the law does not allow hospitals to refuse aid. Consequently, the assistance was free to the family with the financial burden being transferred to the community. Additional follow up visits were many times not kept by uninsured families either.
In 2009, GHK was able to keep 29 children out of emergency rooms, and last month, the group received a record 107 referrals.
Levee explained that Healthy Kids does not accept any direct or indirect government help. Most of the funds are donor raised or raised through community fundraiser with the next one taking place on May 12.
The Taste of Glendale showcases restaurants in the Glendale area with all proceeds benefiting Glendale Healthy Kids. Another fundraiser is scheduled for July 24 and will be a concert at Brand Park titled 60s Revisited, Part Two. The concert is free but raffle tickets will be sold to raise funds for GHK.
The club members decided they could have a lot of fun, while benefitting  many others.
If you know of a child who might qualify for services of Glendale Healthy Kids, you may call (818) 548-7931.