History and Impact
A Legacy Built One Step at a Time
For 30 years, the Step Up for Kids community has shown what can happen when thousands of people come together for kids.
Together, this community has climbed thousands of steps, raised millions of dollars and helped make sure children have access to the support they need to feel like kids—even during some of the most difficult moments of their lives.
This is the legacy of Step Up for Kids. And it was built one step at a time.
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A Legacy That Keeps Climbing
0 years of Step Up for Kids
Over 75,000 Climbers who stepped up for kids
2,400 floors of stairs climbed
49,290 steps climbed
Countless lives changed
Helping Kids Feel Like Kids
The impact of Step Up for Kids goes far beyond the stairs.
A child expressing something they couldn’t put into words through art. A facility dog offering comfort before a difficult procedure. A student keeping up with classmates while receiving treatment. A Child Life specialist helping make something scary feel a little less overwhelming.
Those moments are the result of a community that decided to step up and the true legacy of Step Up for Kids is the impact the event has made on kids and families.
As we celebrate the 30-year milestone of Step Up for Kids, we recognize everyone who made it possible—and the impact that will continue for children and families at Lurie Children’s for years to come.
Thank you for stepping up for kids.
Your Impact
Art Therapy
600+
art therapy visits annually
Music Therapy
1300+
patients served through music therapy annually
Facility Dogs
1300+
facility dog interactions annually
Support for the Family
2800+
families receive financial assistance annually
Child Life
23000+
Child Life patient interactions annually
School Services
1500+
students served annually
The People Behind the Climb
K.I.D.S.S. for Kids: More Than 30 Years of Doing Something Special
In 1991, ten people came together with a simple desire: to make a difference for kids.
They created K.I.D.S.S. for Kids (Kindness is Doing Something Special for Kids) and more than three decades later, that small group has grown into a passionate community of hundreds of volunteers and board members who have raised more than $16 million for Lurie Children’s.
At the heart of their work has always been a belief that children deserve the chance to feel like kids, no matter what they’re going through.
K.I.D.S.S. for Kids has focused its philanthropy on Lurie Children’s Family Services programs, helping provide the emotional, developmental, social and spiritual support that surrounds children and families throughout their care.
From art and music therapy to Child Life, school services, family resources, spiritual care and more, the board’s generosity has helped sustain programs that are an essential part of caring for the whole child.
What started with ten people in 1991 has become a legacy of kindness spanning generations.
Join UsBuilt by a Community
Step Up for Kids was never just about reaching the top. It was about the people who climbed together.
The longtime participant who returned year after year. The team that rallied around a child they loved. The first-time climber who decided to take on 80 flights. The volunteers who arrived before the first climber. The sponsors who helped make the event possible. The donors who supported friends, family members and coworkers one step at a time. Every one of them is part of the Step Up for Kids story.
"We do it because Lurie Children’s has given our family something we can never fully repay: time, hope, healing, joy, and the chance for Jerry to keep fighting, growing, living, and thriving. Lurie Children's has cared for Jerry his entire life, and every year we climb, fundraise, and rally as Jerry’s Heart Racers to honor the doctors, nurses, specialists, and caregivers who have stood beside him and so many other children and families. Before Jerry was taken back for his first open-heart surgery in January 2006 at six days old, I whispered to him a deal: that we walked in the hospital together, and we would walk out together. I have made that same deal with him for 20 years now, and it is because of the team at Lurie Children’s that we have been able to keep it. This event is personal, but it is also bigger than us. It is our way of giving back, lifting up other families, and showing what can happen when a community comes together with love, gratitude, and purpose. We climb for Jerry and we climb for them." -- -
-Kristen Nowak, Jerry's Heart Racers
