I would like to take the opportunity to speak about an amazing affiliate program Chai Lifeline partners with called Aaron’s Apple. Aaron’s Apple’s primary goal is to help families cope with overwhelming medical costs. As the costs of delivering healthcare rises, the ability of families to afford the appropriate and necessary healthcare diminishes.
I was at the hospital a number of months ago visiting someone Chai Lifeline has been helping. Near the end of the visit, the patient’s mother came into the room to meet with us after stepping out for a few minutes. As we sat down and discussed the individual’s situation, his mother mentioned that it has been extremely tough for her financially,especially since she had to take unpaid leave from work to be at the hospital.
What made it much more difficult was that after taking unpaid time off from work, there were other costs associated with her son’s sickness which made their situation even more financially worrisome. One of those costs was medication.
Our program Aaron’s Apple was founded by a special boy named Aaron Maresky together with his Mom and Chai Lifeline, after being diagnosed with Crohn’s disease when he was 7 years old. He had to take multiple medications to help him conquer his illness, and the medical bills surmounted to $40,000 per year. Fortunately, his parents had insurance and were able to cover the great costs of the medications. However, Aaron observed other children in the hospital that could not afford the high costs of their medications. With the mission to help children and their families cope with the affordability of high medical costs, the Maresky family continues to help in ways that most people are unaware of the many services that we offer to our Warriors and their families.
It is programs like this that Chai Lifeline cherishes and salutes as a real community partner. I would like to end my blog post by saying a big thank you to the founder, Aaron Maresky, and his family, for brightening so many lives.
What a true inspiration.
