Who Formed the Heart of a Child Foundation?

The Heart of a Child Foundation was formed in 1996 and is being built with the combined efforts of two families who are determined to turn heart-breaking experiences into an enduring legacy to improve the chances of survival for other infants born with congenital heart defects. Their daughter's stories are as follows:

Paige Bronchick

Samara Mendu

In response to this situation, the Mendus and Bronchicks independently started foundations in their daughters' memories, The Samara Foundation for Pediatric Cardiology and The Paige Bronchick Foundation. Both foundations had as their goal, the furthering of research and treatment in congenital heart defects.

In the summer of 1997, the name of The Samara Foundation for Pediatric Cardiology was changed to The Heart of a Child Foundation. Around the same time, Dr. Hillel Laks, Paige's and Samara's pediatric cardiothoracic surgeon at UCLA brought the two families together. With common goals and a deep emotional commitment, the Mendu and Bronchick families are in the process of merging the two foundations into The Heart of a Child Foundation. The foundations are funded with a total initial contribution of $300,000 from the families.

In only a few short months, the two families have together laid the groundwork for establishing the foundation as the preeminent organization focused on supporting the critical goals of understanding the causes of congenital heart defects and greatly improving clinical techniques to enable children born with defects to survive and lead healthy, meaningful lives. The families are confident that the Foundation's support will play a part in one day preventing the occurrence of congenital heart defects.

The goal is to make the Foundation an open organization with a broad reach and wide perspective that will provide a vehicle for individuals, families and organizations to participate in a combined effort in this endeavor.