Doing the Right Thing

Kids’ Chance has become an industry-wide phenomenon, a charity supported by insurers, employers, service companies and individuals throughout the workers’ comp world. For those not familiar with Kids’ Chance, it provides children of workers injured on the jobs with financial support for their ongoing education.

Good friend Ken Martino is President of Kids’ Chance; Ken and I connected a couple months back and he updated me on the good work they are doing. Ken noted that since its founding back in 1988, Kids’ Chance has funded over $30 million in scholarships to over 8,700 students. Ken and Kids’ Chance are always looking to do more; If you know an injured worker with a child/children that could benefit from financial support for education, here’s the link to submit their information.

More recently, over a two-year period, Kids’ Chance provided over 700 students with scholarships averaging over $4,200 each. In total, over $3 million was provided –  in just 2 years out of the organization’s 33 years of existence.

I caught up with Liberty Mutual’s Sue Mellody at WCRI; Sue is very actively involved in Kids’ Chance of Massachusetts, one of the 49 state chapters of the national organization. In addition to her day job as VP Managed Care and Tech Solutions, Sue serves on the Board and chairs the Scholarship Committee.

Sue noted that when “someone is hurt on the job, the family is impacted just as well”…an occupational injury can affect the worker’s entire family. If the worker is out for an extended time, finances can suffer. This can impact kids in a number of ways – one of the most concerning is their educational future may be in jeopardy with potentially far-reaching consequences over the rest of their lives.

The Massachusetts chapter has made a lot of progress of late, with 10 applications for scholarships already this year after a total of 4 last year. Kudos to  Sue and her committee members for making a difference…

What does this mean for you?

If you know an injured worker with children that could benefit from financial support for education, here’s the link to submit their information.

To join in and help out, here’s how you find your state chapter. 

By Joe Paduda

Courtesy of Managed Care Matters

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