Hollywood Foreign Press Association® Awards $25,000 Grant to Children’s Hospital Los Angeles to Expand Entertainment Industry’s Role in Helping Heal Patients through the Arts

The Hospital’s Mark Taper-Johnny Mercer Artists Program Uses the
Power of Art, Music, Dance and Drama to Help Patients Face
Life-threatening Illness or Injury with Renewed Hope and Inspiration

LOS ANGELES–(BUSINESS WIRE)–Hollywood Foreign Press Association (HFPA) is continuing its support for
Children’s Hospital Los Angeles (CHLA) with its second $25,000 grant to
drive collaboration between the entertainment community and the
hospital’s Mark
Taper-Johnny Mercer Artists program. Facilitated by certified
expressive arts therapists and partners in the community, the Artists
Program uses music, dance, drama and the expressive arts to address the
unique physical and emotional challenges faced by hospitalized infants,
children, teens and young adults. The grant brings the HFPA’s total
commitment to the Artists Program to $50,000.

In partnership with the hospital’s Hollywood
Cares for Kids™ program, the Artists Program will utilize the grant
to integrate professionals and artists in the entertainment industry
into the program, drawing upon their distinct skillset to inspire,
encourage and help patients through their medical journey. For example:

• professional
  animators can teach young patients about communicating through the
  limitless world of cartoons;
• filmmakers can introduce young people to the power of narrative
  storytelling;
• writers
  and composers can help the shyest of patients find their inner voice
  through one-on-one song writing sessions with their music therapist;
• musical
  artists can provide private music performances and engage in art
  and music workshops.

“CHLA is committed to treating the whole child, recognizing the
critical role that a child’s spirit plays in the course of healing,”
said Alex Field, manager, Mark Taper-Johnny Mercer Artists Program.
“Through drama, music, dance, and the visual and expressive arts, we
help children find ways to convey their emotions, ask questions they
have not found the words to ask and feel a bit more in control of their
lives. Young people can also discover a new talent, develop a new
interest, or enjoy a form of art they have never experienced before,
creating a budding life-long appreciation for the arts.”

CHLA was one of the many non-profits that benefited from the nearly $2.4
million dollars gifted on Aug. 4 by the HFPA, the organization widely
known for hosting the Golden Globe Awards. The group annually donates
grants to causes and efforts that the HFPA is committed to supporting,
including entertainment-related non-profits, foundations and schools.

“The Hollywood Foreign Press Association unreservedly gives this grant
to the Children’s Hospital Los Angeles to help nurture the relationship
they have with the entertainment industry,” said HFPA President Lorenzo
Soria. “The result of two industries coming together for one cause is
powerful, moving and inspiring. The HFPA is in awe of the hospital’s
staff and the great lengths they go to every day to put a smile on a
child’s face.”

“The entertainment community has the capacity in many unique ways to
positively impact the children we serve,” said Lyndsay Hutchison,
director, Hollywood Cares for Kids program. “Whether the child is an
aspiring artist or just facing a very tough road ahead, having the
chance to work with an industry professional brings a level of
encouragement and renewed excitement. From writers to animators to
musicians and actors, the entertainment community offers a wide array of
expertise in their respective fields, providing a tremendous asset in
helping children find their voice.”

In addition to their emotional impact, the Artists Program has a
physiological effect on children that contributes to healing. Research
has shown that heart rates slow, blood pressure decreases, and the
perception of pain declines when patients pick up a musical instrument,
sing a song or see a live performance up close. In the hospital’s
Newborn and Infant Critical Care Unit, staff members have reported the
slowing of heart and pulse rates in premature infants upon the first
musical note they hear, and mothers have found a new way to bond with
babies they cannot yet hold by simply singing to them. At CHLA, the arts
are indispensable to the therapeutic process, facilitating recovery and
rehabilitation.

Established in 1901 as Southern California’s first hospital dedicated to
the care of children, Children’s Hospital Los Angeles has grown
alongside the Hollywood community for more than a century. In fact, CHLA
moved to its current main campus on Sunset and Vermont in 1913, the same
year the very first movie was filmed right down the street in Hollywood.

Today, Children’s Hospital Los Angeles is a leading nonprofit hospital
for kids, ranked
seventh in the nation and serving more than 111,000 patients
annually from Los Angeles county and around the globe. CHLA provides
specialized, compassionate care and services for everything that can
affect a child or adolescent, from broken bones to the rarest diseases;
from homelessness to gender non-conformity. CHLA is also a premier
teaching and research hospital with more than 150 physician scientists
hard at work to end the most devastating childhood disorders.

In the last fiscal year, our Artists Program impacted the lives of over
33,000 patients and family members. The program runs year-round, seven
days per week, and can be found in individual patient rooms, group play
areas and lounges, lobbies and even hallways of every floor. With a
commitment to family-centered care, CHLA engages parents and caregivers
in every stage of treatment. Parents can roll up their sleeves and
cut-and-paste with their children, pick up an instrument, or simply sit
back and enjoy a performance.

Members of the entertainment industry can learn more about artist
program volunteer opportunities by emailing Lyndsay Hutchison at lhutchison@chla.usc.edu
or call 323.361.4121.

Visit CHLA.org/ARTISTPROGRAM
and CHLA.org/HOLLYWOODCARES
for more information.

About Children’s Hospital Los Angeles

Children’s Hospital Los Angeles has been named the best children’s
hospital in California and among the top 10 in the nation for clinical
excellence with its selection to the prestigious U.S. News & World Report
Honor Roll. Children’s Hospital is home to The Saban Research
Institute, one of the largest and most productive pediatric research
facilities in the United States. Children’s Hospital is also one of
America’s premier teaching hospitals through its affiliation since 1932
with the Keck School of Medicine of the University of Southern
California.

For more information, visit CHLA.org.
Follow us on Twitter,
Facebook,
YouTube
and LinkedIn,
or visit our blog: WeAreChildrens.org.

About the Hollywood Foreign Press Association

Founded in the 1940s during World War II, the HFPA was originally
comprised of a handful of L.A.-based overseas journalists who sought to
bridge the international community with Hollywood, and to provide
distraction from the hardships of war through film. Seventy years later,
members of the HFPA represent 56 countries with a combined readership of
250 million in some of the world’s most respected publications. Each
year, the organization holds the third most watched awards show on
television, the Golden Globe® Awards, which has enabled the organization
to donate more than $25 million to entertainment-related charities and
scholarship programs. For more information, please visit www.GoldenGlobes.com
and follow us on Twitter (@GoldenGlobes) and Facebook (www.facebook.com/GoldenGlobes).

Contacts

Children’s Hospital Los Angeles
Lorenzo Benet, 323-361-4823
lbenet@chla.usc.edu
or
Sunshine
Sachs for HFPA
Michael Samonte or Alyssa Furnari, 323-822-9300
GoldenGlobes@SunshineSachs.com