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First Niagara is committed to community investment and development as a part of its corporate giving platform. Its primary focus areas are supporting youth and education initiatives. Both of these areas are the focal points of First Niagara’s signature program, Mentoring MattersSM.
Children’s Hospital Boston’s Generation Cures
By Tim Wilson, Editor & Writer, Center for Corporate Citizenship at Boston College
Generating support for the lifesaving work of Children’s Hospital Boston is a vital, never-ending mission. To expand that mission and carry it into the future, Children’s is reaching out in a new way to an audience with a lot at stake in the hospital’s work – kids.
Through its revolutionary online-driven initiative Generation Cures, Children’s is teaching kids and their parents about life-saving research and science while inspiring them to contribute to the hospital’s critical research mission. Generation Cures features an animated web series, games, interactive bulletin board and behind-the-scenes kid-produced videos that spotlight Children’s Hospital Boston researchers and doctors through the eyes of former patients and their friends, providing kids with a view into the importance of research and care.
Designed for tweens (ages 8-12) and their families, Generation Cures provides free and safe access to original web content and connects kids with other children, the hospital and companies, to learn how research and science saves lives. By getting sponsored for the activities on the website, kids can actually raise money to help the doctors and scientists at Children’s Hospital find cures for childhood diseases. Families can raise money through “Game for Good” challenges, birthday parties and special occasions, tribute gifts, or class or team fundraising projects.
“In an increasingly consumer-driven and cynical culture, parents are finding it tougher than ever to teach their kids important life lessons about caring, helping others and what it means to be a good member of a community,” said Jan Cady, chief philanthropy officer at Children’s Hospital Boston. “With the launch of Generation Cures, parents can now turn to a safe online destination that kids will love, and they can feel great about supporting.”
Since its launch last fall, Generation Cares has won more than 20 national awards recognizing the site’s kid-friendly content and interactive design. Created by award-winning researchers, educators and designers, the adventure game, animated stories, music and videos are not just fun and engaging, but meant to teach the importance of giving back and helping others.
Celebrities including Forest & Keisha Whitaker, Jennie Garth and JoJo Levesque (singer/actress) have joined Generation Cures as “celebrity ambassadors” and their page has gone live on the site. More celebrities are joining the Generation Cures movement and will be featured on the site later this summer.
The success of Generation Cares also demonstrates the growing power of some new trends in philanthropy. According to the ePhilanthropy Foundation, online fundraising in the United States has grown rapidly from $250 million in 2000 to an estimated $6.9 billion in 2006. And Generation Cures recognizes that the online donors of the future are today’s kids, who increasingly show they already want to make a difference in their own way.
With Generation Cures, kids both make it better today and carry the lessons they learn now through life, leading to a new generation of philanthropists and volunteers to support important organizations like Children’s Hospital Boston. For more information you can visit the site at www.generationcures.org or contact Jane Hamel, Director, Corporate Relations at Children’s Hospital Boston, 617-355-8833.
