The picture to the right shows the namesake of the Baby Sharon Fund shortly after her birth in Ho Chi Minh City. Baby Sharon looks healthy but she was born with a coarctation of the aorta and needed immediate surgery. The surgery was set up for Children’s Hospital but the government of Vietnam would not let her leave the country. They required the use of their plane, doctors and a hospital in Singapore with a mandatory cash payment of $36,000 before anything could happen. Not having access to $36,000 cost Baby Sharon her life but lead to the passage of the Baby Sharon Act to help children struck by a medical catastrophe. Please consider a yearly contribution so we have a strong safety net in place for our children.

At the January 2012 meeting, the committee granted $815 to a family to cover many different expenses. Their child has a brain tumor requiring surgeries that forced the mother to leave work for a number of months to care for the young man.

The Baby Sharon Fund awarded the following grants at our November 2011 meeting:

• $2000 to a family to buy a portable ramp and to help with three months of utility bills.
• $1350 to a family to help with rent.

At the May 2011 meeting, The Baby Sharon Fund assisted the family of an 18-year-old cancer patient with three months of rent payments totaling $900.

• A second family, whose child suffers from Short Bowel Syndrome, was awarded a grant of $825 to help them move to Little Rock because the illness requires being close to Children's' Hospital.

At the March 2011 meeting, The Baby Sharon Fund assisted three families with rent and utility payments.

• The family of an 11-year-old child with a brain tumor received a $450 grant.
• The second family, whose child also has a brain tumor, received a $500 grant.
• The third child has severe gastrointestinal problems, and his family received a $600 grant.

The Baby Sharon Fund awarded the following grant at our January 2011 meeting:

• $500 was granted to the mother of a premature child to help with the expenses of a new home.

The Baby Sharon Fund awarded the following grants at our November 2010 meeting:

• $2500 to help pay for assistance dog training in Kansas City so that a four year old girl can get help with basic tasks as she moves about in her wheelchair.
• $300 to help with utilities and phone service for a family whose six-year-old child has a severe muscle disease.
• $300 to help with utilities for a family whose eight-year-old child has severe neurological problems.
• $350 to help with utilities for a family whose child has both spinal and muscular problems and is on a ventilator.
• $6500 to do the remodeling necessary for a seventeen-year-old girl who has had a heart transplant, cancer, and now needs a kidney transplant to remain at home and graduate from high school.

The Baby Sharon Fund awarded the following grants at our September 2010 meeting:

• The family of a child with diabetes, autism, and other serious illnesses requested a used refrigerator because some of his medications had to be refrigerated. The committee approved $700 to buy a new refrigerator.
• The family of a child with a brain tumor requested $700 to pay the monthly rent. The committee granted the request.
• The family of a child with multiple medical issues requested $2,350 to pay one month's bills. The committee granted the request.

The Baby Sharon Fund awarded the following grants at our July 2010 meeting:

• The child of a single parent has Type 1 diabetes, and the mother is attending nursing school. The mother moved to a new apartment with her two children after learning that a registered sex offender had moved nearby. The request was granted for $275 to help with the relocation to a safer apartment for the family.
• 10 month old baby has been in the NICU at ACH since birth with numerous illnesses. There is also a 12 year old and a six year old in the family. The family moved to Arkansas from Louisiana in order to access appropriate medical care for the newborn. The request was granted for $500 to catch up on rent and the cost of relocating.
• A young girl has some very serious medical conditions and is on PalCare (Palliative Care) for children. She has CP and pulmonary issues. The family shares a van that Dad uses to get to work and Mom uses to get to nursing school and to medical visits. The request was granted for $300 for electrical work in their home to accommodate medical equipment.
• The family of a 16 year old with numerous medical issues that had a liver transplant in June requested $1,000 to get them current on essential needs. The request was granted.
• Child, age 6, has end stage renal disease and the family must commute six days a week for treatment so Dad cannot work. They are behind on their rent and are fearful of eviction without help. They requested $1,000 to assist with two month's rent. The request was granted.

The Baby Sharon Fund awarded the following grants at our January 2010 meeting:

• $500 to help a financially strapped family with housing. The single parent has a child with mid-line brain disorder that causes other medical issues making it necessary to live close to Children's Hospital.

The Baby Sharon Fund awarded the following grants at our November 2009 meeting:

• $1,700 to help the family of a heart transplant patient with apartment down payment and two month's rent.

The Baby Sharon Fund awarded the following grants at our September 2009 meeting:

• $500 to help the family of a heart transplant patient with utility payments and rent so they can move out of temporary housing.
• $600 to help build a wheelchair ramp for a 13 year-old who suffered closed-head injuries from a skateboard accident.

The Baby Sharon Fund awarded the following grants at our July 2009 meeting:

• $300 to help a family with utility payments whose child has hypopituitarism, possibly as a result of a brain tumor that was recently removed. His illnesses have required multiple hospital stays. Further, mom was just diagnosed with uterine cancer and she lost her job.
• $515 to a single parent to help with rent. Her little girl suffers from congenital hyperplasia.
• $330 for a mortgage payment to help a family whose son has schizencephaly causing significant medical difficulties.

The Baby Sharon Fund awarded the following grants at our May 2009 meeting:

• $2,600 to a ventilated and quadriplegic gunshot victim to pay old Housing Authority expenses so the family could move back into Housing Authority property.
• $1,300 to a single parent who is unable to work because she must take care of an ill child. The grant removes some bills causing pressure and stress that interferes with the care she must provide the very sick child.
• $1,150 for transmission work on a car needed to transport a child with numerous severe medical issues.
• $1,150 to a diabetic patient whose mother has heart problems to remove some financial pressure from a very stressed family.

The Baby Sharon Fund awarded the following grants at our January 2009 meeting:

• $1500 to be matched by Lander’s Toyota for a car needed by the family of a heart transplant patient in NW Arkansas who must make weekly visits to ACH in Little Rock.
• $720 so the mother of twins, with one twin not thriving, could move from a house being shared by 13 other people into a Housing Authority home.
• $1,000 to help pay for a piece of equipment (an IPV) to facilitate breathing for an 18 month old child suffering from numerous illnesses. The equipment costs $7,000.

The Baby Sharon Fund awarded the following grants at our November 2008 meeting:

• $973.08 to Paul’s family for household expenses and utilities made difficult to pay because his mother had to devote so much time to his care.
• $778 to a family under extreme financial pressure as a result of coping with their child’s illness to provide an environment conducive to recovery at home.

The Baby Sharon Fund awarded the following grants at our September 2008 meeting:

• A living expenses grant for $500 to a heart transplant patient.
• A living expenses grant for $3,000 to a kidney transplant patient.

The Baby Sharon Fund awarded the following grants at our May 2008 meeting:

• Six families were helped with rent, utilities, food, and fuel. This assistance from Baby Sharon allowed families to keep their appointments for specialized medical care essential for maintaining these children's quality of life. The total amount awarded in May 2008 was $6229.

The Baby Sharon Fund awarded the following grants at our March 2008 meeting:

• $2,000 for Presley to help his mom with rent, electric bill and respite duty nursing.
• $2,700 for Tori to buy a wheelchair lift.

The Baby Sharon Fund awarded the following grants at our July, 2007 meeting:

• $3500 to a family whose child has Cutis Laxa for rent, car repair, and utilities.
• $2200 to a family whose child has Encephalopathy, Adrenal Insufficiency for rent, car repair, and utilities.

The Baby Sharon Fund awarded the following grant at our January, 2007 meeting:

• $1100 to Arkansas Children's Hospital to help with utilities and rent of the family of a very sick 3-year-old so they could move close enough to ACH to get needed therapy for the child's developmental delay, facial and head anomalies, hearing loss, dysphagia, congential hydrocephalus, retrolental fibroplasia, and seizure disorder.

The Baby Sharon Fund awarded the following grants at our November, 2006 meeting:

• $1500 to Arkansas Children's Hospital to help with utilities, automobile repair, and insurance for a recent heart transplant patient's family.
• St. Vincent's was given $500 for telephone service and a gas card to help in the transition of an NICU patient returning home to Hope, AR on a monitor.

Baby Sharon Committee adds special room to home so child could leave hospital.

The Baby Sharon Fund awarded the following grants at our September, 2006 meeting:

• $8,300 to add a room on to the home of a very sick little girl who must have a special bed and equipment in a hospital-like room before she will be allowed to leave the hospital.
• $1,800 to help meet expenses of a family of a kidney patient who had to go to Dallas to get treatment.

The Baby Sharon Fund awarded the following grants at our July, 2006 meeting:

• $500 to help a family with trip expenses to Texas to get treatment unavailable in Arkansas.
• $1,200 to pay the electrical bills in arrears so a child could use a ventilator in her home.
• $3,000 to buy a good used van for a family so they could safely travel back and forth to Children's Hospital from Fayetteville. The only car the family could afford had 350,000 miles on it and the lights did not work. They will be making weekly trips to Children's Hospital for several months.