FUNDACIÓN GARRAHAN

Organizational Vision
Citizen Base Strategy
Results

Organizational Vision

The goal of Fundación Garrahan is to ensure institutional and technical excellence in Hospital de Pediatria Garrahan, Argentina’s leading children’s hospital. The foundation strengthens the scientific research programs of the hospital by providing scholarships, advanced accreditation and distance learning programs, research support, and sponsoring scientific congresses and publications. In 1997, it founded Garrahan House, which houses low-income mothers and their children who come from outside of the Buenos Aires province to the hospital to receive longer-term care.

Citizen Base Strategy

Since 1999 the foundation has operated a successful paper-recycling program, which which is an innovative approach to mobilizing resources in an environmentally friendly way. The foundation uses its alliances with over 2000 companies and organizations to provide strategic collection areas for its paper-recycling program. Its client list includes many large companies, such as 3m Argentina, Argentina Airlines, Blockbuster, the Supreme Court, Daimler Chrysler Argentina, Hotel Sheraton, Nestle, Pepsico, Renault, Telefónica, Unilever, and Austral University. It hopes to build long term strategic alliances with these groups which will lead to the development of other programs to benefit the hospital and its patients. This strategy has already proved successful, with a variety of companies providing financial and organizational support for a number of programs.

Results

The recycling program netted 3,579,517 kilos of paper in 2002, (nearly a 200% increase from 2001,) and took in over $300,000 net. Revenues from the program were used to fund activities such as research in experimental surgery, the purchase of advanced pediatric and neonatal technological equipment, and the maintenance of the Garrahan House.

The Garrahan House has been one of the biggest direct beneficiaries of the recycling program which has inspired many people to become sponsors of the 18 individual rooms in the House through a yearly donation which covers all costs of operation. In addition, Metrogas has expanded its involvement to sponsor the House’s garden, where mothers can produce their own food, save money, and learn about organic gardening and healthy cooking for their children. With thirty-five volunteers now staffing the house, the foundation has been able to complete plans to construct an additional wing of the house that would double its size.

The recycling program has benefited the foundation in other ways. Besides raising a significant amount of money for the foundation, the program has introduced the practice of paper recycling to hundreds of people and inspired many employees of participating companies to become involved with the foundation.

Furthermore, the recycling program has raised environmental social consciousness in the Buenos Aires community. Participating schools are even starting their own internal recycling programs and teachers are spreading the recycling message to their students.