UCI Giving Day 2023

In honor of the UCI Health Regional Burn Center saving their six-month-old daughter’s life, the Murphy family is offering a challenge to all those who support the Burn Center this Giving Day. The first 25 gifts received in support of the Burn Center today will unlock a generous $20,000 gift from the Murphy family. 

The UCI Health Regional Burn Center is the only burn center in Orange County – and one of approximately 70 in the nation – verified by the American College of Surgeons and the American Burn Association. Each year, our team treats more than 600 patients, one third of them children, for mild to severe and life-threatening burns. We provide comprehensive and holistic care of our patients at the most critical time of their lives, while supporting essential aftercare and community reintegration for burn survivors and their loved ones. 

– Ryan and Ashley Murphy

Your gift will support the highest levels of care and new breakthroughs in burn research, treatment and education only provided by UCI Health’s knowledge-driven team. Your gift will also help us invest in the latest leading-edge technologies, including lasers, that will revolutionize the healing and recovery process. The UCI Health Regional Burn Center offers unparalleled, next-level care for those who have suffered serious burns, especially our children. There is no better place in our region or our world for exceptional burn care.

All donations benefit the essential, life-saving care and programs only available through UCI Health, including the following vital services: 

• Monthly burn survivor support groups.
• Specialized camps for pediatric burn survivors that provide the emotional and social skills necessary for thriving after a burn injury.
• The Survivors Offering Assistance in Recovery (SOAR) program, which links the newly injured with peer supporters.
• An annual holiday party and summer picnic for burn survivors.
• Scholarships for burn survivors to attend the annual World Burn Congress, where burn survivors from around the country gather for emotional healing.
• Educational resources for fire service personnel, paramedics, physicians and nurses, including specialized education in burn care, and annual Advanced Burn Life Support courses for emergency medical personnel and other local health care professionals.

Thanks to our generous donors, we were able to provide the following to our patients, survivors and families in the last year:

• Our Summer Twilight Picnic welcomed 100 burn survivors and their families and friends.
• Our peer supporters had 40 visits with patients in the hospital.
• Our social worker led 10 support groups in our new hybrid format.
• Our child life specialist represented the UCI Health Regional Burn Center at the American Burn Association Conference where she shared her work on improving pediatric patient care.
• Our Winter Celebration welcomed 150 survivors and their families and friends for crafts, toys and prizes as well as an opportunity to meet other survivors.
• We upgraded our children’s playroom with a new TV, gaming console and equipment for pediatric patients.

Help us to continue to offer these life-saving programs and services by making a gift today! A gift of any size will have a meaningful impact and help unlock the Murphy's $20,000 Giving Day challenge. In honor of the 56th anniversary of the UCI Regional Burn Center, below are a few examples of the impact your gift can make today.

• $5.60 can provide one pediatric patient with art supplies or toys.
• $56 can cover the costs for one person to attend our Summer Twilight Picnic or Winter Celebration.
• $560 can cover the costs for two survivors to become peer supporters, and four donations at this level can send one survivor to World Burn Congress.
• $5,600 can cover all costs for our Summer Twilight Picnic.

Your gift truly makes a difference for burn patients, survivors and their families.

Please contact Joy Kliewer, PhD, senior director of development, at joy.kliewer@uci.edu or 310-486-9265 to learn more about the Burn Center and opportunities to support.