Portland, Ore.

Oregon taxpayers can direct all or part of 2003 tax refunds to Doernbecher Children's Hospital

For the second consecutive year, Doernbecher Children's Hospital is participating in the Oregon Charitable Checkoff Program, a statewide program in which Oregon taxpayers can designate all or part of their 2003 tax refunds to eligible charitable organizations.

Last year was the first time Doernbecher Children's Hospital participated in the Charitable Checkoff Program, and about $12,000 was raised through Oregonians' generosity at tax time.

Money directed to Doernbecher Children's Hospital through the checkoff program will support expansion of the Kenneth W. Ford Northwest Children's Cancer Center. The expansion will include a new 22-bed cancer inpatient unit, an infusion center for chemotherapy treatments, an enlarged cancer outpatient clinic, and four new pediatric intensive care rooms.

"The vast majority of young cancer patients in Oregon are treated at Doernbecher," said F. Leonard Johnson, M.D., chairman of the Department of Pediatrics in the OHSU School of Medicine. "We simply must expand our cancer facilities to accommodate this growing need. The checkoff program is one of the quickest, easiest ways for Oregonians to help us do that. We greatly appreciate the tax contributions that were made last year and request that Oregonians remember Doernbecher this year as well."

To participate in the Oregon Charitable Checkoff Program, charities must have received at least $1 million in contributions and revenues the previous year, must be a tax-exempt organization, must provide services to Oregonians that are consistent with the state's policies and programs, and must gather 10,000 signatures from Oregon voters.

Kiwanis Club members throughout the state played key roles in adding Doernbecher to the list of eligible charities by gathering the necessary signatures.

With nationally-recognized programs in pediatric heart surgery, neurosurgery and cancer, Doernbecher Children's Hospital provides primary and specialized care to more than 43,000 patients each year from Oregon, southwest Washington and beyond. As part of Oregon Health & Science University, the state's only academic health center and research institution, Doernbecher combines healing, teaching, discovery and outreach in its mission to improve the health of all children.

Expansion of the Kenneth W. Ford Northwest Children's Cancer Center is a key priority within Doernbecher's ongoing fund-raising campaign for the future of Doernbecher. For more information on giving opportunities, contact Lyn Trainer, Doernbecher Foundation, at 503 220-8342 or e mail trainerl@ohsu.edu. You may also make a gift online at www.doernbecherfoundation.org.

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