Causes: Philanthropy, Philanthropy, Charity & Voluntarism Promotion, Public Foundations

Mission: The KMB Foundation, founded in 1998, was formed with the hope of providing children with disabilities financial assistance for equipment and/or services that their insurance companies will not cover and that the family is unable to afford. Although some equipment for special needs children may not be medically necessary we believe that the child, and the child''s family, deserve to have an improved quality of life. For example: Most insurance companies will pay for a child''s wheelchair. A wheelchair for a child with special needs may not be foldable and can be quite difficult to disassemble for transportation. There are special "strollers" made that can offer similar support for the child but are also easily foldable and transportable. These "strollers" can be $2,000 or more. If the insurance company has paid for a wheelchair they would not consider this "stroller" to be medically necessary and would deny the claim. The family would then be forced to purchase this "stroller". Most families have tremendous difficulty finding the means to pay for a $2,000 piece of equipment. We want to change that. The mentioned "stroller" could offer a child and their family a better quality of life by making travel, even if only going to the grocery store, easier.

Programs: Each child/family who applies for assistance with our organization is required to complete our application,which includes financial information from the family and any special circumstances. Our organization also REQUIRES a letter of denial from the child's insurance company as well as other assistance the child/family has attempted to obtain from other sources. When we receive a completed application, it is reviewed at the next board meeting and discussed in detail. All applications are reviewed individually and all mentioned circumstances are discussed. All decisions are made by a majority vote and any awarded funds are paid directly to the company providing the equipment and/or service. Funds are not given directly to the family.