In this week's podcast episode, we were lucky enough to sit down with Leigh Burke, the Executive Director of the National Capital Region of Variety, A Children's Charity. Variety is a fantastic organization that supports families of children with mobility impairments. The World Health Organization estimates that approximately 93 million children aged 0 to 14 live with a moderate to severe disability worldwide and Variety's goal is to improve the quality of life for as many of these children as possible. 

Variety is an international organization with a local chapter called the National Capital Region that supports our families here in DC, MD, and VA. We are so grateful for the work they are doing and have been fortunate enough to work closely with them and see the impact, firsthand, that they have had on several of our families. Variety raises money through a variety of different events such as donations, movie theater fundraisers, walk run and roll events, etc. This money is used to provide grants to help cover kids' health care costs and mobility needs.

So far, Variety has raised $120,567,000 and helped 445,403 children in their mission to "fund and deliver effective programs that address the needs of all children locally and internationally." The goal of their programs is to "deliver children equity, independence, social inclusion, mobility and self-esteem by funding and delivering equipment and services" and we have been fortunate to see the impact of this first hand. Several of our families in the past have received grants through Variety and that money has been used to help get children wheelchairs, walkers, bathing equipment, adaptive bikes, etc,. During COVID, they also released an Emergency Small Grant that can be used to help support families who have been financially impacted by decreased work hours, increased illnesses and hospitalizations, increasing cost of living, etc.

One of our PMC All Stars, Kassadey, got to experience first hand just how impactful this charity can be. Kassadey relies on her wheelchair as her primary means of mobility. She always dreamed of being able to ride a bike with her friends. However, she requires a little extra support than standard bikes provide and her insurance wouldn't cover an adaptive bike for her. We got Kassadey and her family in contact with Variety and they worked hard to raise money and were able to help her family purchase her very own adaptive bike! Kassadey loves riding her bike and is so glad to be able to participate in bike rides with her family and friends. We are so thankful to Variety for all they've done for Kassadey and all the other children they support!

To find out more about Variety as a company, or our local chapter, please visit the links below. We have also included the Emergency Small Grant Application below. If you have specific questions about Variety or how to get involved, please contact Leigh Burke at leigh@varietydc.org, 202-962-0054.

Resources and Information

Who We Are - Variety - the Children's Charity

Variety DC – The Children's Charity

Small Emergency Grant

Shout out to Nature Cordelli, PT, DPT for sharing her knowledge!