Eligible children’s philanthropic, medical and medical research organizations are invited to submit applications for grants to be awarded at this year’s National Children’s Medical Fund Luncheon in Garfield, N.J. The biennial event will be hosted Nov. 11 by the Metropolis of New Jersey Philoptochos.

Since its inception in 1989, this principal fundraising program of the National Philoptochos Society, has raised and disbursed about $3.3 million dollars for children’s hospitals and research programs, and special programs that serve the needs of ill and fragile children, along with assistance to individuals and their families in the U.S. and throughout the world.

At this year’s luncheon, grants will be awarded to hospitals, research programs and special programs located within the Metropolis of New Jersey, consisting of New Jersey, Delaware, Maryland, Virginia and southeastern Pennsylvania including the cities of Broomall, Elkins Park, Jeffersonville, Media, Philadelphia and Upper Darby.

Remaining funds will be disbursed to programs, individuals and their families across the country in the two years leading up to the next Children’s Medical Fund Luncheon.

Following are examples of the range of projects and programs that have received funding from past Children’s Medical Fund luncheons:

• Emilio Nares Foundation, San Diego for the Ride with Emilio Transportation Program ensuring that children with cancer receive transportation for treatment
• Children’s National Medical Center, Washington, DC, to help purchase specialized respiratory equipment for the Infant Pulmonary Function Laboratory
• University of Illinois Medical Center/ Rush University Medical Center, Chicago, for the Pediatric Hematology/ Oncology Program
• Family Sponsorship Program at Camp Sunshine at Sebago Lake, Inc., Maine, for a program that provides respite and support to families of children affected by life-threatening childhood illness, including the children, parents and siblings, who are most often overlooked
• Children’s Tumor Foundation, New York, to help fund Neurofibromatosis Preclinical Consortium Phase II Testing
• Cleveland Clinic Children’s Hospital, Cleveland, to fund medication and supplies that are not covered by health insurance.
• Genre’s Kids with Cancer Fund, Irwin, Pa, to provide Nintendo handheld gaming systems for children to use during the long hours of chemotherapy and blood transfusions.
• Children’s Hospital Medical University of South Carolina, Charleston, SC, for Pediatric Neuroblastoma Research

Grant applications can be accessed at the National Philoptochos website at: www.philoptochos.org/outreach/cmfsection/. To be eligible to apply, organizations must have current 501(c) (3) status from the Internal Revenue Service. Completed applications, including all requested documentation, must be received no later than 5 p.m. EST, Friday, June 2, 2017.