When nine-year old Valerie Goldstein passed away after a battle against cancer, her parents Ed and Sue didn’t want her death to be forgotten. They thus established the Valerie Fund, back in 1976, in her memory. The fund’s aim is to “provide support for the comprehensive health care of children with cancer and blood disorders.”
Thirty-five years after its founding, there are today, seven Valerie Fund Children’s Centers for Cancer and Blood Disorders located in tri-state hospitals which offer comprehensive health care to over five thousand children and their families every single year. This makes up the biggest network of healthcare facilities for children with cancer and blood disorders throughout New Jersey, making it one of the largest in the country, with more than 25,000 patient visits annually.
The Valerie Fund seeks to treat the “whole patient” and the “whole family.” This means that it focuses not just on the physical needs of the individual, but also their emotional needs. And since cancer impacts the entire family as well, the Valerie Fund notes that and provides support and counseling for siblings and parents as well.