To help build stronger, healthier communities, EMPLOYERS® offers a variety of outreach, volunteer, and support opportunities for our employees. We also organize giving efforts at the corporate level. One organization EMPLOYERS proudly sponsors each year is Kids’ Chance of America.
How Kids’ Chance Works
Kids’ Chance is a non-profit organization with chapters located throughout the United States. Their focus is to give the children of workers who have been injured on the job a chance to pursue their educational dreams without financial burden.
“Kids’ Chance is all about providing children of severely injured or deceased workers post-secondary scholarships to give them the opportunity to get an education and to change the lives of families affected by these severe injuries,” said John Goldwater, President of Kids’ Chance of Virginia and a past President of Kids’ Chance of America.
Cumulatively, Kids’ Chance organizations have awarded over 9,000 scholarships for totaling more than $33 million. Students can learn more about eligibility and apply online at https://www.kidschance.org.
A Recipient Shares Their Story
The EMPLOYERS team was introduced to Ali Kurnath, a former scholarship recipient through Kids’ Chance of New Jersey, and speaker at a National Workers’ Compensation and Disability Conference and Expo event.
“I’ll never forget sitting in the library, studying for my very first round of finals at High Point University, when I received a phone call from my mom,” Ali said during her speech.
During Ali’s freshman year of college, her father was in a car accident during a business trip that resulted in a spinal cord injury.
At the conference, Ali talked about how her dad has always been her biggest role model.
“He always pushed us to be the best at anything we put our minds to, even if that drove us crazy most of the time.”
She then added that after her father’s life-altering injury, he pushed himself with the support of his family.
“It became our turn to become our dad’s biggest supporters and to motivate him every day to push himself, even if it drove him crazy most of the time as well.”
When Ali received the Kids’ Chance of New Jersey Scholarship, she said it took a great financial burden off her mom so that she could focus on the care that her father needed during his recovery.
“Kids’ Chance actually made it possible for me to return back to High Point [University] for my sophomore year to pursue and graduate with a degree in human relations. Without Kids’ Chance, I absolutely would not have been able to return to school with all the medical bills that had added up that were now on my mom’s shoulders.”
Ali wanted to give back, and she did so by getting involved with Kids’ Chance of North Carolina as an intern after college. She continues to showcase why Kids’ Chance is such a vital program for families affected by an on-the-job accident.
Getting Involved With Kids’ Chance
Kids’ Chance of America says their biggest challenge is not funding, but rather finding more eligible kids to give scholarships to.
“My experience with Kids’ Chance has been perhaps we’re reaching 3-5% of all children affected,” Goldwater said. “So, getting the word out, broadening the Kids’ Chance community is very, very important in terms of being able to find more children.”
To join EMPLOYERS in supporting the Kids’ Chance program, learn how to help spread the word today.