Starlight’s Commitment for Change

Like many others, Starlight Children’s Foundation was inspired to make a commitment to change in response to the racial injustice and violence that continues to impact the Black community.

For Starlight, that meant looking at how we can better distribute our programs so communities who need them the most have equal access.

In response, we launched Commitment for Change—an equity, diversity, and inclusion initiative to deliver Starlight programs to more medically underserved and vulnerable populations.

In our first phase, we completed the following:

• Determined Starlight’s organizational definition of “medically underserved and vulnerable populations” as “minority populations or individuals who have experienced health disparities, have shortage of primary medical care, high poverty levels, and groups that may face economic, cultural, or linguistic barriers to health care.”

• Secured an informational database through which “medically underserved and vulnerable population” (MU/VP) data can be identified.

• Contacted more than 100 hospitals in MU/VP regions that were not active in Starlight’s partner network so they could get access to Starlight programs free of charge.

• Increased Gift In-Kind items featuring books and board games in languages other than English from major corporate donors.

As we move into the next phase of Commitment for Change, we look forward to making Starlight a stronger organization, one that serves everyone in our community.

Our highest priority is to be there for every seriously ill child who needs us.