Arkansas Children's receives $2M Mabee Foundation Grant

(LITTLE ROCK, Ark.) Sept. 18, 2023 – In conjunction with its 75th anniversary, the J.E. and L.E. Mabee Foundation has awarded Arkansas Children's a $2 million grant to advance child health.

The Mabee Foundation is a longtime supporter of Arkansas Children’s, giving a total of $6.7 million since 1987. The latest donation will support the Arkansas Children’s Heart Institute. The Arkansas Children’s Heart Institute was founded in 1985. Throughout the decades, Arkansas Children’s has improved the lives of countless families, children and adults across the region.

"Over the last three decades, the Mabee Foundation has been a champion for Arkansas Children's," said Enid Olvey, president of Arkansas Children’s Foundation. "Their unwavering support fuels our mission of making a lasting impact on the children of Arkansas and throughout the region."

Arkansas Children's is home to the state's only comprehensive pediatric heart institute. Because of generous philanthropic support, the Heart Institute has two new, highly advanced biplane catheterization (cath) labs, a hybrid cath lab, 3D printing capabilities and improved outcomes consistently outperforming the Society of Thoracic Surgeon’s benchmarks.

Each year, Arkansas Children’s highly-specialized team performs around 900 cardiac catheterization procedures and heart surgeries, including transplantation. With faster recovery times, shorter hospital stays and outstanding survival rates, Arkansas Children’s is ranked in the latest U.S. News & World Report Best Children’s Hospitals list for Cardiology & Heart Surgery, one of seven medical specialties for which Arkansas Children's is ranked.

"Empowering organizations like Arkansas Children's is at the heart of the Mabee Foundation's purpose," said Mike Goeke, executive director of the Mabee Foundation. "The legacy of J.E. and L.E. Mabee encouraged a spirit of giving from everyone – and that has helped to foster a lasting impact that ensures sustainability for the future."

John and Lottie Mabee established the Mabee Foundation in 1948. In the 75 years since, the foundation has issued more than $1.5 billion in grants to non-profit 501(c)(3) organizations in Arkansas, Kansas, Missouri, New Mexico, Oklahoma and Texas.

ABOUT ARKANSAS CHILDREN’S

 Arkansas Children's is the only healthcare system in the state solely dedicated to caring for Arkansas' more than 700,000 children. The private, non-profit organization includes two pediatric hospitals, a pediatric research institute and USDA nutrition center, a philanthropic foundation, a nursery alliance, statewide clinics, and many education and outreach programs — all focused on fulfilling a promise to define and deliver unprecedented child health. Arkansas Children’s Hospital (ACH) is a 336-bed, Magnet-recognized facility in Little Rock operating the state’s only Level I pediatric trauma center; the state's only burn center; the state's only Level IV neonatal intensive care unit; the state's only pediatric intensive care unit; the state’s only pediatric surgery program with Level 1 verification from the American College of Surgeons (ACS); the state’s only magnetoencephalography (MEG) system for neurosurgical planning and cutting-edge research; and the state's only nationally recognized pediatric transport program. Arkansas Children’s is nationally ranked by U.S. News & World Report in seven pediatric subspecialties (2023—2024): Cancer, Cardiology & Heart Surgery, Diabetes & Endocrinology, Nephrology, Orthopedics, Pulmonology and Urology. Arkansas Children’s Northwest (ACNW), the first and only pediatric hospital in the Northwest Arkansas region, is a level IV pediatric trauma center. ACNW operates a 24-bed inpatient unit; a surgical unit with five operating rooms; outpatient clinics offering over 20 subspecialties; diagnostic services; imaging capabilities; occupational therapy services; and Northwest Arkansas' only pediatric emergency department, equipped with 30 exam rooms. Generous philanthropic and volunteer engagement has sustained Arkansas Children's since it began as an orphanage in 1912, and today ensures the system can deliver on its promise of unprecedented child health. To learn more, visit archildrens.org.