WILL ROGERS MOTION PICTURE PIONEERS FOUNDATION
6767 FOREST LAWN DR 303, LOS ANGELES, CA 90068 willrogersmotionpicture.org

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Organizations Filed Purposes: The mission of the Will Rogers Motion Picture Pioneers Foundation is to perpetuate the memory of Will Rogers by promoting and engaging in cardiopulmonary programs, as well as, public health education, under the name of Will Rogers Institute, and provide social service assistance to eligible members of the theatrical entertainment industry through the Motion Picture Pioneers Assistance Fund.About The Will Rogers Institute The Will Rogers Institute is a program of the Will Rogers Motion Picture Pioneers Foundation. Originally a hospital for tuberculosis-stricken Vaudevillians, The Will Rogers Memorial Hospital (established in 1936) became a national training facility for doctors treating patients with tuberculosis and the Will Rogers Institute was created. Currently, the WRI perpetuates the legacy of Will Rogers as a national charitable health program dedicated to the support of research in debilitating lung disorders, medical school training fellowships, distributors of free health educ

Brave Beginnings an initiative of the Will Rogers Institute In 2015, the Will Rogers Institute Neonatal Ventilator Equipment Program was officially renamed, Brave Beginnings (BB). Due to the large premature birth problem in the United States (the US has the sixth highest rate of premature births in the world, 10% of all births, in most developed countries the rate is 7 9%), hospitals have a tremendous need for additional equipment and modern equipment that will give a premature infant a fighting chance at a life without disease or a permanent disorder. In 2019-20, the BB program issued 46 grants to hospitals in the USA, from a pool of 84 applicants. The total amount of grant funding was $1.4mil. The demand for equipment funding was $8.6mil. Since the ventilator grant program was established in 2006, 200 hospitals have received grants, totaling $9.6mil dollars, and an estimated 270,000 infants have been served. The overall objectives of the Brave Beginnings program is to educate the public about the need and long-term benefits to helping premature infants develop without lifelong ailments, as well as, provide hospital NICUs with vital equipment. Along with many other individuals and organizations dedicated to fighting the preemie epidemic, the Brave Beginnings program will try to help eliminate a generation of children growing up with ailments and disorders, due to a premature birth. New in 2019-20 was a strategic alliance with SONICU, a sound and temperature equipment manufacturer. SOINICU is a cloud-based system that alerts healthcare personnel about high sound levels, temperature drops, and humidity drops in the NICU. A pilot grant was given Riley Childrens Hospital (Indianapolis, IN), Memorial Hospital at Gulfport (Mississippi), and Comers Childrens Hospital-University of Chicago Medical Center (Illinois) to demonstrate the efficacy for preemie development when sound, temperature and humidity is closely monitored. Following the tradition established by the Will Rogers Institute program, and utilizing resources from the entertainment industry, public service announcements continue to help generate awareness and financial support. In 2019-20, PSAs were made featuring celebrity John Cena and social media influencer Tori Meskin BSN, RNC-NIC aka Nurse Tori. The two appeared in a PSA made to play in movie theaters and on the internet. Nurse Tori did a series of Brave Beginnings social media posts and videos to create awareness for the program

Pioneers Assistance ProgramThe Pioneers Assistance Fund (PAF) provides financial assistance for health and welfare issues to people who work in theatrical entertainment. Assistance is provided on a sliding scale for people who have worked a minimum of five years in the industry up to people who have worked an entire career in the industry. The PAF is funded by restricted donations from entertainment industry companies, foundations and individuals who work in the theatrical entertainment industry. In 2019-20, the PAF provided long-term type assistance to 20 clients and short-term assistance to 439 clients, down from 651 the previous year. The top three reasons for assistance are: 1. Rent and household financial hardship, 2. Medical treatments and care, and 3. Accident or unforeseen circumstance. The age range for long-term assistance recipients is 51 - 101, with many of those receiving assistance between the ages 71 90. The short-term client ages are from 20-100 years of age, with the majority receiving assistance in the 51 70 age group. The Pioneers Assistance Fund program provides financial assistance for the following services: medical rehabilitation, medical related equipment, vocational rehabilitation, emergency grants, and quality of life issues (primarily due to health-related circumstance). In 2019-20, the number one health ailment, for clients needing financial assistance continues to be cancer. The other overwhelming reason for emergency financial assistance is due to housing insecurity. Social workers are finding that a significant number of people seeking financial assistance are employed, but live under a very tight budget, due to many factors. One accident, illness or unforeseen incident can create a household crisis. PAF clients reflect the greater circumstance affecting middle-class workers in the USA, most are barely keeping up with financial demands of day-to-day life.

Will Rogers Institute Research & Fellowships The Will Rogers Institute (WRI) is a program that has roots dating back to when the charity operated the Will Rogers Memorial Hospital. A primary objective of the hospital was to conduct research for patient care and train pulmonary doctors on how to provide the best care for their patients. Today, WRI funds general pulmonary research that provides training for the next generation of pulmonologists and pulmonary researchers, as well as, provides funding for medical school fellowships (training fellowships). In 2019-20, WRI continues to focus all research efforts to the Will Rogers Institute Pulmonary Research Center at USC Keck School of Medicine, directed by Dr. Edward Crandall, Hastings Professor of Medicine. The Will Rogers Institute Pulmonary Research Center is focused on new strategies for treatment of lung injury and pulmonary edema from air pollution and other lung injuries. Training fellowships for pulmonary medicine continue at Burke Rehabilitation Hospital (White Plains, NY), University New York University, University of Texas Medical School (Dallas, TX), Patricia Neal Rehabilitation Hospital (Knoxville, TN) and Cedars-Sinai Hospital and Research Center (Los Angeles, CA). The objective for funding research fellowships in lung diseases at many major universities throughout the United States is to help train future leaders of lung research and thoracic specialists.

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