Photo By Scott Kelly
Imagine the emotional and financial burden on families with children battling cancer, cystic fibrosis, heart disease and other life-threatening illnesses and disabilities.
Now, picture an organization that empowers these families by providing personalized, transformative support.
Chasin A Dream Foundation, a Jupiter-based 501(c)(3) nonprofit under the direction of founder and Executive Director Lori Griffith, does just that. As a health care industry worker for 18 years and a volunteer, Griffith gained a first-hand understanding of what these children and their families face on a daily basis.
Guided by her belief in community and Locals Helping Locals®, a group dedicated to promoting local people and businesses that give back and support kids battling life-threatening illnesses, Griffith set out to make a direct impact. In 2017, she launched Chasin A Dream Foundation to provide life-changing assistance year-round.
“Locals should know the local kids to help support them,” says Griffith, a Hobe Sound resident. “We’ve given more than $1 million (with community donations) to families (in Palm Beach, Martin and St. Lucie counties) to help pay for critical needs like mortgages, rents, utilities, basic necessities, medical equipment and transportation. We’re also working on our eighth service dog right now for kids with seizure disorders.”
The foundation’s first initiative was the Hospital Backpack Program — creating custom backpacks supplied with toiletries, crafts, blankets and either laptops or iPads for younger children headed to the hospital. Following this, the organization introduced the Critical Need Program and the Forever Faith Burial Assistance and Grief Counseling Program.
“We also have a holiday [toy] program, helping more than 600 children a year,” Griffith notes.
Fundraising events include the (8th) Annual Pumpkin Fest (held in October 2024) and Gala 2025.
“The Fairways Fore Good Gala, our main fundraising event, is scheduled for March 13, at the Pelican Club in Jupiter,” Griffith says. “Our 2024 gala raised half a million dollars. We’re hoping to exceed that in 2025.”
She is involved with Chasin A Dream Foundation seven days a week but doesn’t consider it a job at all.
“I have a great team of more than 400 volunteers, and there’s nothing like the feeling of making a difference for families,” Griffith expresses. “This isn’t work — it’s my calling.”
For more information or to support Chasin A Dream Foundation, call 561-315-7005 or visit chasinadream.org.