Pediatric Associates and Benefit Chair Judith Pierce led efforts Thursday, March 4 to raise more than $166,000 at Kindering’s 5th Annual Salute to Courage Luncheon. Pierce, a community leader, prominent public health consultant and member of Kindering’s Board of Directors, chaired the annual benefit for the Bellevue non-profit organization that helps infants and children with special needs.

For the 4th year, Pediatric Associates served as presenting sponsor of the event. The physician-owned, pediatric practice, established on the Eastside in 1967, operates clinics in Bellevue, Pine Lake, Redmond Ridge, Factoria, Redmond, Sammamish, and Totem Lake.

Corporate event sponsors included Diamond Sponsors: Seattle Childrens Hospital and Swedish Hospital; Platinum sponsor: Intelius; and Gold sponsors: Eastside Pediatric Dental Group, Kibble & Prentice, McAdams Wright Ragen, Inc., and Mercer Island Pediatrics. More than 300 guests attended the luncheon.

During the program, Jenny Cummins, an educator and grandparent of a child helped by Kindering, spoke of the crucial early intervention services provided by the birth-to-three therapy center.

“No matter what the arc of a child’s ability or disability, Kindering Center is there to help—to help the child, to help the parents, to help the next school that accepts that child,” Cummins told the audience.

Cummins then asked, “Where else can you find such a place for these most fragile of our children, a place where the entire Kindering community is dedicated to working with both the child and the parents and yes, even the grandparents?”