This project funds basic necessities such as food, transportation and prescription medication as well financial support for funeral expenses to impoverished CHOC Children’s families. When tragedy, like the illness or injury of a child, strikes a family and they are in their most desperate hour of need, it is critical that they find support and assistance. The purpose of CHOC Children’s Family Assistance Program is to alleviate economic hardship for families struggling due to a pediatric health crisis. In the current economic climate many families are facing difficult decisions about where and how to spend dwindling family resources. They may be choosing between putting food on the table and taking their child to the doctor, or paying the electric bill and getting their child’s prescription filled. The Family Assistance Fund exists to provide these families with the financial support and resources they desperately need such as food, transportation and pharmaceuticals. Serving more than 220,000 children each year, CHOC Children’s is the only safety-net pediatric hospital in the county. Over 50% of the patients we serve live at or below at or below 300% of the federal poverty level. A Cox Cares grant to CHOC Children’s Family Assistance Fund will help provide invaluable support to more than 3,000 needy families this year.