Doobie Brothers perform at local benefit for ‘Children of the Californias’

For more than 20 years, the Foundation for the Children of the Californias has helped keep kids healthy on both sides of the border. To continue to provide critical support, the foundation held its annual Concert for the Kids featuring the Doobie Brothers Oct. 2 at The Santaluz Club.

The foundation raised funds at the event for an electronic monitoring system for the Hospital Infantil de las Californias, a 48,000-square-foot pediatric complex that offers outpatient services in 22 specialties. With the facility a half-mile into Baja California, the monitoring system will not only track equipment and medicine, but patient medical records.

In an effort to improve the health and nutrition of children, the Foundation for the Children of the Californias was founded in 1994. In this tri-national collaboration with the United States, Mexico and Canada, pediatric professionals joined forces with academic, business and civic leaders from the three countries to open and operate the pediatric medical center in northwestern Mexico.

The medical center serves about 3,500 children per month, with a third of the children from San Diego, Orange and Los Angeles counties.

Approximately 70 percent of the center’s medical personnel and staff donate their services. Volunteers have served 380,000 hours, providing 440,000 consultations and conducting 12,000 surgeries since the foundation was established.

For more information, visit www.usfcc.org.

Photos by McKenzie Images.