BIOGRAPHY

Compelled to make a difference in the lives of children, Jeff Gordon founded The Jeff Gordon Foundation in 1999. The inspiration for Jeff’s charitable work developed several years earlier when his former Crew Chief, Ray Evernham, received word that his son Ray J. had been diagnosed with leukemia. Jeff watched as Ray J. struggled through years of chemotherapy and treatment, and as Ray J.’s family faced the fear and anguish that comes when someone you love is diagnosed with cancer. The experience solidified Jeff’s personal mission to help others and specifically to start a foundation that would provide financial and advocacy support for children facing adversity. What had started as a small project driven by one special child has grown into an organization that has raised over $7 million for children’s charities.

For the last decade, the Foundation has been working to improve the lives of children facing critical illness, providing millions of dollars to programs and hospitals that care for our country’s most vulnerable kids. Now in our tenth year, the Foundation has focused our efforts on pediatric cancer, the number one disease killer of children, and the Jeff Gordon Children’s Hospital in Concord, NC.

The Jeff Gordon Foundation is committed to doing everything that we can to support research and the successful treatment of pediatric cancer so that there will be a day when no child will face the uncertainty of this devastating disease. The Foundation funds a full spectrum of oncology researchers and practitioners including those finding the molecular causes of pediatric cancer, clinical researchers focused on testing the effectiveness and long-term side-effects of treatments and healthcare professionals charged with ensuring that every patient receives the best possible treatment and care. We believe that investment in research and treatment of the disease can eradicate pediatric cancer in our life-time.

In addition, the Foundation will continue support of the Jeff Gordon Children’s Hospital through various campaigns and events. After meeting hundreds of children through visits to children’s hospitals and granting wishes through the Make-A-Wish Foundation, Jeff searched for a way to give back to the children in his own community. The Jeff Gordon Children’s Hospital at Carolinas Medical Center – NorthEast opened in Concord, North Carolina in December of 2006, forming an even tighter bond between Jeff, the Foundation, and his commitment to helping children.

The Jeff Gordon Children’s Hospital provides the highest level of primary and specialty pediatric care including cardiology, endocrinology, oncology, neurology, pulmonology and several other specialties. The hospital includes a 28-bed pediatric floor, state-of-the art Pediatric Intensive Care Unit and Neonatal Intensive Care Unit, and the Pediatric Pavilion which offers highly specialized inpatient and outpatient care. The Jeff Gordon Foundation is proud to support a quality healthcare facility dedicated to compassionate care and medical excellence for children.

We look forward to the next decade of caring and to lasting partnerships with organizations that share our vision. Together, we will significantly impact the lives of these precious children.


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