Thousands Climb Aon Center Stairs To Raise Money For Lurie Children's Hospital
CHICAGO (CBS) -- There was no line for the elevators at one of Chicago's tallest buildings Sunday morning as thousands of people took the stairs.
The Step Up For Kids fundraiser was expected to raise $700,000 for family services at Lurie Children's Hospital, says Mary Tritsis.
She's president of the group KIDSS (Kindness Is Doing Something Special) for Kids, a group formed 25 years ago.
The fundraiser has grown significantly since they started it 19 years ago, with roughly two thousand people climbing up the Aon Building.
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Tritsis says the money will help pay for art therapy, foreign language interpreters and other amenities for young patients and their relatives.
Through those services, Kristen Nowak says the hospital treated her whole family as they stayed at Lurie as her son Jerry underwent two heart surgeries.
The first was when he was just six days old and the second one to fix a valve came when he was three years old.
Nowak says they had 58 friends and relatives climb this year - including Jerry, who is now ten years old.
They wore matching purple T-shirts that said "Jerry's Heart Racers."
