Thanks to Morgan Stanley’s commitment to children, the screens on their global headquarters in Times Square will light up with Children’s Health Fund messaging for the entire month of May through the ‘Lights on Broadway’ Campaign. City residents and tourists alike can take pictures in front of the large screens depicting images of Children’s Health Fund’s doctors and mobile medical clinics in action. We are fortunate to have innovative partners like Morgan Stanley who not only provide financial support, but also take our work to new heights! This soaring opportunity inspired me to look back on our relationship with Morgan Stanley and reflect on how our important partnership is making a difference for children and families across the country.

Value Driven

Arriving at the Broadway Office of Morgan Stanley in early May to launch our Lights on Broadway Campaign, I casually looked up at the words over the sign in the reception area and read them aloud… Putting Clients First; Leading with Exceptional Ideas; Doing the Right Thing; and Giving Back. I was immediately struck by the commonality of values with my own organization, Children’s Health Fund, and it became eminently clear how our two organizations had come to be so closely allied. While working in different sectors, at the core, we are service organizations that put our customers first, we are innovation inspired and driven, we look at the greater good in making informed decisions and, we are all about paying forward as we give back.

For the past twenty-six years the team at Morgan Stanley has been the goodwill ambassadors of Children’s Health Fund – from the boardroom to the clinic. Our work with Morgan Stanley volunteers has focused on a trifecta of purpose – 1) to educate others about our mission; 2) to advocate for child friendly programs and policies; and 3) to fundraise and make sure that the human, material and financial resources are in place to deliver the highest quality health services to America’s most vulnerable children.

Along the way, Morgan Stanley volunteers have painted community clinic walls, stuffed back-to-school kits with notebooks, pencils and other school supplies, and assisted during dental screenings by occupying students while they waited for their turn. On the corporate level, Morgan Stanley sponsors our work through the “Urban Health Initiative” which has focused on bringing comprehensive health care services to children and young people in Chicago, Miami, New York City and San Francisco. This included literally delivering a brand new mobile medical clinic – a new doctor’s office on wheels – to Chicago. And within the last year, the Mid-West Regional Office of Morgan Stanley launched a Peer-to-Peer work place giving campaign where more than 800 staff collectively raised more than $53,000 for a new program to be launched in Flint, MI – helping the children and families in that city cope with the fallout of the water crisis.

Putting Clients First; Leading with Exceptional Ideas; Doing the Right Thing; and Giving Back – values that are valuable, values that are practical, and values that combine ideas with action to make aspirations real. For the past three decades, working side-by-side, Morgan Stanley and Children’s Health Fund have taken on the tough jobs and reached tens of thousands of children with services that positively changed their lives. Together we are value driven, and the road forward holds more great things for children – our most valuable collective asset for a bright future.