Grant-A-Starr Foundation Nears $1 Million in Donations
Houston, TX (PRWEB) October 04, 2016 -- The Grant-A-Starr Foundation (http://www.grantastarr.org) announces that it is approaching a major milestone of raising $1 million in donations to save children’s lives through early diagnosis. Since 2006, the Foundation has been raising money to support world-class projects at Texas Children’s Hospital and Children’s Memorial Hermann Hospital, each focusing on research for the advancement of diagnostic testing to detect early childhood diseases.
One of the key fundraising events, the Annual Grant-A-Starr Foundation Gala is generously hosted by the Cordúa Family at their flagship restaurant Artista, located at the Hobby Center for Performing Arts in downtown Houston. Now in its 3rd year, the Grant-A-Starr Foundation Gala will take place on November 10, 2016. It will be emceed by Ms. Jacquie Baly, President of BalyProjects LLC and leader in Houston region’s business and policy communities for more than two decades. Also, for the third consecutive year Houston’s leading artist Edgar Medina will paint live at the Gala for auction at the end of the evening.
“The Foundation was started to celebrate the life of my son, Grant Starr, an otherwise extremely healthy and energetic seven-year old, who contracted a seemingly common viral infection,” said Rod Starr, Founder of the Foundation. “Attempting to identify an elusive virus was a time intensive and heart wrenching process, and the virus that attacked him remains unidentified to this day. Tragically, Grant passed away on the afternoon of August 9, 2005 – 58 days after being admitted to the hospital.”
While great strides have been made in medicine, the technology needed to quickly identify and treat new strains of bacteria and viruses is severely lagging. The Foundation continues to honor Grant by raising funds, all of which are tax deductible and go directly to the important projects at Texas Children's Hospital (with Baylor College of Medicine) and Children's Memorial Hermann Hospital (with The University of Texas Health Science Center) for research for life-saving advancements in diagnostic testing.
“The Texas Children’s Microbiome Center and the Department of Pathology at Texas Children’s Hospital are extremely grateful for the tremendous support of the Grant-A-Starr Foundation during the past decade,” said Dr. James Versalovic, M.D., Ph.D., Pathologist-in-Chief, Texas Children’s Hospital. “The Foundation’s support has enabled us to translate discoveries of the human microbiome into new diagnostic tests that serve many children and families in Houston and Texas. This support has enabled Texas Children’s to expand and refine the rapid diagnosis and treatment of children with serious and newly emerging infections.”
To learn more about Grant-A-Starr Foundation, visit http://www.grantastarr.org. To support the Foundation by donating for the advancement of diagnostic testing to detect early childhood diseases, click here. For more information, please contact Mike Ball, Managing Director of GASF at mball1958(at)gmail(dot)com, or 713-819-3449.
Mike Ball, Grant-A-Starr Foundation, http://www.grantastarr.org/, +1 (713) 819-3449, [email protected]
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