Milwaukee-based life insurance company Northwestern Mutual has committed $5 million to Children’s Wisconsin’s MACC Fund Center for Cancer and Blood Disorders over the next five years.
The donation will support in-hospital navigator and psychosocial programs to help guide patients and families through diagnoses, treatment and recovery. It will also expand existing programs and services, such as the Northwestern Mutual Day Hospital for Childhood Cancer, to continue to provide outpatient care for children with cancer and blood disorders.
The donation will also support patient care and a community navigator for families of patients with sickle cell disease, a life-threatening blood disorder that occurs in nearly one out of every 400 African American births.
“This $5 million commitment will help every single child and family who turn to Children’s Wisconsin when they are diagnosed with childhood cancer or blood disorders,” said Meg Brzyski Nelson, president of the Children’s Wisconsin Foundation.
The funding is the company’s largest standalone donation related to its national childhood cancer philanthropic focus. Since 2012, Northwestern Mutual’s Childhood Cancer Program has contributed more than $35 million and funded over 455,000 hours of research.
“Through this contribution, patients and families will experience individualized patient support and greater access to resources for navigating their journeys from diagnosis to healing,” said Eric Christophersen, president of the Northwestern Mutual Foundation. “We’re proud to help strengthen the exceptional care childhood cancer patients receive at Children’s Wisconsin.
