In December of 2012, our newborn son Eli had open heart surgery to repair a life-threatening congenital heart defect. For the procedure, we elected to travel three hours to a leading pediatric cardiology facility, the Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia (CHOP). Doctors told us to be prepared to stay in Philadelphia for ten days. We were blessed enough that we could make the trip without financial hardship but learned quickly there are many families who cannot.

Shortly after that stay at CHOP, we founded Eli’s Heart to help families, like many we met in Philadelphia, who were struggling with the financial burden of travel expenses incurred while their child battles a critical illness far from home. To do this, we pay for airfare, gas charges, hotel stays, meals and more. To date we have helped over 100 families with necessary travel and lodging expenses. We hope you will join us to help those in their most critical time of need.