Children's Miracle Network

Written by Bakersfield Magazine

Since 1991, children in Bakersfield have been benefiting from the presence of the Children’s Miracle Network (CMN). That’s the year that Memorial hospital got involved with CMN. The national nonprofit organization raises money to help the children their partner hospitals serve and this relationship has brought some wonderful, and much needed, resources to Bakersfield.

“What’s so wonderful about Children’s Miracle Network being in Bakersfield is that all of the money raised stays local,” said Janelle Capra, director of fund-raising for the Bakersfield Memorial Hospital Foundation and our Children’s Miracle Network. That means for every dollar we spend on those little yellow and orange balloons in the grocery store, that’s a dollar that stays here to help sick children in our community.

Places like Rite-Aid, Costco, and Wal-Mart are nationally tied to the Children’s Miracle Network, so our local stores participate in fund-raisers at different times throughout the year. And they do their part, too. Capra explained that one store alone has raised close to $20,000 so far this year.

“We are helping children get better,” Capra said. “And we can see the impact that fund-raising has had.”

With those funds, Memorial is able to purchase equipment to better treat the children who come through the doors. Specialized equipment like the Giraffe® OmniBed®, which is a highly-advanced alternative to a regular incubator in a Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU). This advanced bed allows doctors and nurses at Memorial to treat critically ill infants without disturbing the infant since many procedures, including X-rays, can be done from the bed. But they come at a cost—nearly $60,000. And with support from our community, Memorial now has six of these beds in their NICU.

But funds don’t just help the tiny babies by providing medical equipment—they also go toward helping children of all ages from all backgrounds with any disease or injury imaginable. Because the funds provide the hospital with money for research and education—things that will help children in our community grow healthy and strong.

And the fund-raising opportunities keep coming. In early June, Memorial hosted the Bakersfield Biggest Baddest Barbecue Championship, a two-day event that was the first of its kind here in Bakersfield. Held at Stramler Park, and sanctioned by the Kansas City Barbecue Society, the event hosted live entertainment from the likes of The Beagles, Marty Haggard, and Brandon Cash. But the highlight was definitely the tasting and judging of dozens of grill teams presenting their best barbecue, professional, civic, and amateur alike. The best part of all this? The entire proceeds went right back to our local kids!

Those funds will help Memorial continue to expand their children’s services, all a part of being a Children’s Miracle Network partner. By 2010, Memorial will have a fully-functioning pediatric intensive care unit, the only one between Los Angeles and Fresno.

So with more community support, we can continue helping local youngsters served by the Children’s Miracle Network grow up strong.

If you’d like more information about our Children’s Miracle Network, please call

(661) 327-4647, ext. 4640.

Article appeared in our 26-2 Issue - June 2009