History

Since its founding in 1997 by John Iovieno, The Frank Iovieno Caring for Children Foundation (Caring for Children) has been providing financial assistance and support to children who are suffering with life threatening illnesses and economic challenges. Initially, Caring for Children was focused on providing assistance only during the holidays to children living with HIV/AIDS in the Greater Boston area. For instance, during the charities initial year in 1997, Caring for Children provided basic need assistance to thirty children and their families through the generosity of fifty individual donors and sponsors.

However, over the past thirteen years, Caring for Children has grown substantially. The charity now assists over 230 children and their families each year living throughout Massachusetts and Upstate New York. The Foundation coordinates its charitable activities with seven hospitals from Boston to Albany. Despite the challenging financial times, 2008 was Caring for Children's most successful year ever, raising over $40,000 from over 700 donors and sponsors.

Due to the significant advances in the prevention and treatment of HIV/AIDS, the total pediatric population in need of our help has begun to decline. Therefore, over the past several years Caring for Children has proactively evolved in two ways:

Expanded the geographic scope of the charity- The Foundation now serves a total of seven hospitals from Boston (Children's Hospital, Boston Medical Center, and UMASS Worcester) to Western Massachusetts (Bay State Medical Center in Springfield) and Upstate New York (Albany Medical Center.) Bay State Medical Center and Albany Medical Center are the most recent additions.
Recently began assisting children suffering from Sickle Cell Anemia in addition to our original target recipients. This seemed a natural evolution for Caring for Children. These children receive their medical care at one of the existing targeted hospitals; therefore sponsors receive the same compelling stories written by the social workers.