Adam Scott Weiss (ASW) Cares for Kids is a family foundation in its thirty-eighth year of fundraising. Through its efforts it raises money to build and develop child services and facilities, improving the quality of life for hospitalized children.
The concept of the fund emerged with the death of the family’s child, Adam Scott Weiss, from an incurable Lymphoma, or cancer of the lymph gland. The Weiss family spent many hours on the pediatric floor of the Langone Medical Center. They quickly found that the facility was without activities and services to entertain and distract children who were hospitalized for long periods of time while undergoing treatment.
With Adam’s death, the family wanted to make a lasting contribution that would preserve his memory and benefit those children, as well as their families, who were simultaneously experiencing the devastation of long hospitalizations.
With this in mind, the Weiss’ first project was the development of a recreation room on the pediatric floor that was “state of the art”. They set about hiring an architect and raised the necessary funds through the newly formed organization, ASW Cares for Kids. Within that year, the Multipurpose Recreational Facility at NYU-Langone became a reality, and began providing a respite from the uninviting atmosphere of the hospital.
Over the past twenty years, the fund has seen many projects to completion. The Pediatric Pantry allows parents to prepare meals as well as provide an attractive “kitchen-like” atmosphere for families to dine in. The Media and Computer Center, replete with the most modern computing equipment, provides an attractive and quiet library for children to read books or listen to stories. The Child-Parent Room, designed for cohabitation of both child and parent during prolonged periods of therapy provides a home-like atmosphere. The newest of Facilities, The Treatment Room, truly advanced in its concept and design, provides surround sound, DVD players in the ceiling, and a live fish tank as a necessary diversion to children undergoing painful procedures.
The fund continues to be on the leading edge of creating and developing facilities that improve the quality of life for the chronically ill and suffering child. Its goals continue to expand, and it hopes one day to expand its activities to other hospitals.
To help the fund continue its work, donations are gratefully accepted. Any amount is appreciated and put to good use. The fund is family operated and all funds raised are put directly into project development and not salaries or administrative costs. Given the current hospital financial crisis, these activities will not be funded through hospital budgets. ASW Cares for Kids is the only source of support.