More than fifty members of Children’s Diagnostic & Treatment Center’s (CDTC) leadership, employees and supporters recently participated in the 165-mile SMART Ride. This year’s ride raised more than $1.3 million to assist those living with HIV across Florida. The ride started on Friday, Nov. 15, in Miami and ended in Key West on Saturday, Nov. 16.
The Center hosted two teams of riders this year thanks to tremendous support from parent company Broward Health and the community. The CDTC Cyclones and Swarm also included another 17 crew members supporting the ride; providing food, morale support and transportation. Joining the teams this year were Broward Health President and CEO Gino Santorio, Senior Vice President of Operations David Clark, CDTC Vice Chair L. Jack Staley, Board Member Sabrina Farmer, and Oakland Park Commissioner Jane Bolin.
“The SMART Ride continues to build a generous community of members who are passionate about helping those living with HIV and ending this epidemic,” said Dr. Ana Calderon Randazzo, CDTC’s Executive Director. “We are humbled by the support of those who joined out teams as well as those who made the ride such an amazing, life changing experience.”
SMART Ride’s mission is to raise funds for organizations assisting and treating individuals with HIV/AIDS. This year’s beneficiaries included seven organizations across the state including CDTC and Broward House in Broward County as well as Metro Inclusive Health, Pridelines, AIDS Help, Miracle of Love and Compass Community Center. 100% of the funds raised directly support individuals in need. The organizations will be presented with proceeds from this year’s ride at the official presentation ceremony on January 12th at United National Consumer Supplies.
The Center is well-known for its robust HIV/AIDS programming through their Comprehensive Family AIDS Program (CFAP) which serves infants, children, youth and women living with HIV/AIDS. CDTC provides anonymous testing, same-day treatment and access to clinical trials. In addition, clients can receive primary medical care, HIV specialty care, dental care, case management and social services through the program. Funds received from the Ride each year help case managers break down barriers to care by providing medications and treatments not covered by insurance as well as necessities such as transportation, camp, retreats, support groups and more.
There is still time to support this year’s ride. Donations can be made through December 31, 2019 at thesmartride.org. To find out more, visit TheSMARTRide.org.
Children’s Diagnostic & Treatment Center (CDTC) is a not-for-profit that serves more than 12,000 clients with special healthcare needs in Broward County annually. As a facility of Broward Health, CDTC’s mission is to promote the optimal health and well-being of children with special healthcare needs by providing comprehensive prevention, intervention and treatment services. CDTC was awarded Level 3 Patient-Centered Medical Home (PCMH) Recognition by the National Committee for Quality Assurance (NCQA) offering a unique system of care for infants, children, youth and women with chronic illnesses, disabilities and developmental delays. For more information, visit ChildrensDiagnostic.org.
