Cassie & Jason LaFrance Support Upcoming ACH Miracle Ball

On Cassie LaFrance’s coffee table sits a humble but stunning flower arrangement, all that remains from the intimate gathering she and husband Jason hosted, the rest of which went to help spruce up the Ronald McDonald House. Just a few days before, their home was filled with patrons of the upcoming Arkansas Children’s Hospital Miracle Ball, which the couple is co-chairing.

But whether talking with patrons, friends or strangers, the underlying theme — and sometimes a literal statement — in any conversation LaFrance has about her involvement with ACH is the same: “Less about me, more about the important stuff.”

The “important stuff” took precedence early in life for the Little Rock native. With an obstetrician father and a mother who ran the wellness clinic at Little Rock Central High before becoming a social worker for UAMS, working with children seemed second nature to LaFrance. She began babysitting in the fourth grade, then in her teens found a place volunteering at ACH. She spent many an hour of in playrooms with patients or, with toys loaded on a cart, making the rounds to patients who couldn’t leave their rooms.

After years at Smith College in Massachusetts, London School of Economics and Political Science and the University of Arkansas School of Law (and nannying throughout college), LaFrance made her way back to her hometown. Upon returning to Little Rock, she practiced law at Williams & Anderson PLC, then worked for federal Magistrate Judge J. Thomas Ray.

Along the way, she met Jason, a principal of Dale Capital Partners, who shared the same passion for helping children — something he inherited from his father, founder and former chairman and CEO of USA Drug. Cassie and Jason are now parents to three children of their own.

“When Jason and I got together, before we were even married, we talked about what we wanted to support and advocate as a couple,” LaFrance says. “We knew that our passion was definitely for children. That was never something I had to push for. Jason was right there with me.”

In 2012, her husband became a member of the ACH Foundation Board. LaFrance, who had never forgotten her early connection to the hospital, also became involved, joining the ACH Auxiliary.

The black-tie Miracle Ball is a joint effort of the foundation and the auxiliary, and therefore a perfect tag-team project for the LaFrances. Now in its 10th year, the event is the single largest fundraiser for the organizations. The past few years, the event has set a goal of raising $500,000 for the hospital and its initiatives, a goal it always surpasses.

The LaFrances were asked to chair the 2015 event two years prior, as is customary. They also served as the live auction chairs in 2014, where they were able to shadow then-chairs Chuck and Terri Erwin to learn about the work that would soon come their way.

This year’s “Great Expectations” theme will transform Children’s Hall at ACH into an elegant English garden and will feature a five-course dinner from Capers, candlelight and lots of greenery and flowers from Tanarah Luxe Floral. And while LaFrance’s schedule is full of seemingly endless event meetings, it’s far from the stressful burden some might believe it to be.

“When we talk to people who know we’re co-chairing the Miracle Ball, they give us this look and ask if we’re just totally overwhelmed,” she says. “Not at all! When you find something you believe in this much, it doesn’t feel like work. It’s almost silly to say it could ever feel like work because it’s such a fun event, even though there is a big to-do list. But at the end of the day, it’s not about us. This is not the Cassie and Jason LaFrance Show. This is our year to step outside of our comfort zones and make Miracle Ball a success for ACH.”

LaFrance says venturing outside of that comfort zone at first made the couple feel uneasy, but their anxiety regarding public speaking and magazine photo shoots had to quickly go out the door, as did their shyness about fundraising.

“I’m the kind of person who loves to attend events, but not the person who wants to be out in front, or even really to have my picture taken, but especially to ask people for money. That’s not really an option with this. Once you sign up, you sign up,” LaFrance says. “And honestly, taking this risk and putting it all out there, I don’t think we thought it would feel this good. It’s surprised us in the best way possible.”

Raising money for ACH, as the LaFrances have learned, is not something you have to talk many people into. Donors come out of the woodwork to offer funds, auction items or man-hours to support the work of the hospital. So many people give to ACH because so many have been affected by it, especially now that it’s progressing with its mission to be a statewide network of caregivers.

One of the most rewarding experiences for the LaFrances, in fact, has been to watch how quick people are to offer support. For example, tickets for the Miracle Ball, a December event, sold out in May. The couple has seen a vast network emerge of people who have been touched by ACH, who when you ask to donate, usually immediately answer, “Yes, because …”

And the list of “becauses” is a lengthy one. From clinical treatments to research to broken bones and beyond, Arkansas Children’s Hospital has set a precedent for great care. For the past few years, however, the major focus of the auxiliary has been ACH’s new Children’s House. The auxiliary pledged $1.5 million over a span of three years to the child abuse evaluation clinic, the final beam of which was placed in late October.

Credit: Jason Masters

According to the Children’s Bureau of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, more than 10,000 Arkansas children were victims of abuse or neglect in 2013. Of those, 29 died as a result of maltreatment. The 10,000 includes 2,241 who were victims of sexual abuse. Disturbing statistics also come from the national Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in Atlanta, which reports that as many as one in four girls and one in six boys will experience some form of sexual abuse before the age of 18.

As deeply unsettling as these numbers are, they are exactly the type of statistics that inspire the ACH team to fight child maltreatment. Creating a child-friendly environment filled with trained professionals is key to providing the best treatment and reducing child trauma.

Located on the ACH campus, Children’s House integrates the services of medical intervention with the UAMS Centers for Children at Risk, advocacy with Children’s Protection Center, treatment of sexual abuse with the ACH Family Treatment Program and mental health with the UAMS Child Study Center. The hospital expects to improve detection of cases and the protection and privacy of the children, as well as foster overall family healing.

Children’s House is a tangible facility, which makes Miracle Ball that much more worthwhile for LaFrance and others. Not all of the funds go to the new facility, however. Portions of the donations will also be used for other initiatives at ACH, ones LaFrance has personally seen in action.

“We have three kids, nieces and nephews and friends’ kids who have all been treated there, and we are always blown away by the care that Children’s provides. I’ve spent the night there with my own children and seen firsthand what they do. Just to know that you have that peace of mind is incredible. It’s made it very easy to get behind, to volunteer, knowing that’s an organization we’re going to want to help and champion for a long time.”

For the LaFrances, it’s comforting to know this level of care is just 10 minutes away. But that’s not enough. They give their time and resources to ACH to help ensure other families can have the same opportunities as the hospital expands across the state.

“The work at ACH touches everyone in the state, and seeing these things happen has made us just want to get more involved,” LaFrance says. “The auxiliary raises significant funds that make significant changes, and that’s what really drives us to want to make Miracle Ball a success.”

So what comes after Miracle Ball? LaFrance says she’s looking forward to getting involved with many of the auxiliary’s other initiatives, like promoting holiday cards, volunteering at ACH’s Playaway Gift Shop, or helping with other events. But when her kids are all in school, she wants to do more hands-on volunteering with patients. For her, it adds a different level of importance, of that tangibility.

“You drive right by ACH in the middle of the city, you can look up and see Angel One flying over and know a child is about to receive amazing care. You can know you’re doing great things for Children’s and read it on paper, but this is different. Seeing all the ways they care for our kids and spending your time in there makes it real. You see things through your own lens rather than someone else’s.”

How You Can Help

Though tickets to Miracle Ball are no longer available, there are still plenty of ways to give and make a difference in the lives of Arkansas children. Gifts of any size add up to big things for kids. For example:

  • $10 = Five pacifiers for babies in the ACH Auxiliary Infant/Toddler Unit
  • $25 = 18 aluminum finger splints for the Log A Load for Kids Emergency Dept.
  • $40 = Infant blood pressure cuff
  • $75 = Final treatment party for a child with pediatric cancer
  • $100 = Radio Flyer red wagon for patients to use in the hospital
  • $150 = One IV pole
  • $200 = One day’s worth of diapers for the patients at ACH
  • $500 = 15 minutes in the sky for an Angel One helicopter
  • $1,200 = An exam table for an ACH outpatient clinic
  • $3,600 = A stretcher to transport patients to and from surgery
  • $5,000 = A blanket warmer for the NICU
  • $10,000 = Two cribs

Additionally, gifts are still being sought for furnishings and the operating endowment for Children’s House.

To make a gift, call (800) 880-7491, or visit Giving.ARChildrens.org.

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