This year’s One For the Kids Curve Ball is for Kayla Kud, a brave 3-year-old girl who has been fighting to overcome several health issues from the moment she was born. Kayla and her family visit 13 different physicians and 8 different therapists for her hearing, vision, cardiovascular, gastrointestinal, spinal, speech, and developmental defects — and her genetic disorder still remains undiagnosed.

Kayla needs our help. By attending this year’s Curve Ball, you can help Kayla’s family with their considerable medical bills so that her doctors and therapists can continue to search for a diagnosis and treatment plan that will give her the bright future that every child deserves.

About One For The Kids

We hope you’ll join One for the Kids on February 13th, 2016 as we host our 8th Annual Cocktail Event, The Curve Ball! Based on past years, this will be a very fun opportunity to give back to Chicago-area charities and a local family in need.

Since the beginning, One for the Kids has relished the curve ball. Be it our slightly irreverent tag line, a great time for a great cause or the fact that our original logo was designed on a cocktail napkin, we haven’t exactly been cookie cutter. Curve balls at our golf outing have become legendary. They have ranged from skydivers to a mechanical bull and from the Heisman Trophy to a dunk tank. Reveling in the unexpected is quintessential One for the Kids.

The Curve Ball name is about celebrating that fun and unpredictability and taking it to the next level for the benefit of our 2016 Host Family, The Kud Family, along with our 3 partner charities, Special Olympics Chicago, Advocate Children’s Heart Institute, and Benton House Community Settlement.

Benefiting the Kud Family

Kayla Kud was born on March 28, 2012 and welcomed into the family by her parents, John & Melissa (Rapp) Kud, and big sisters, Gianna & Aubrey.

She is a beautiful and wonderfully made child of God, but with many health issues which affect her development both physically and academically. She spent 34 days in the NICU, has undergone multiple surgeries, has undergone multiple tests and been hospitalized on numerous occasions. Kayla sees physicians in 13 specialties as well as 8 therapists for speech, physical, developmental, occupational and nutrition. At age 3, she only weighs 17 pounds and is not scooting, crawling, walking or talking.

Despite many genetic tests, Kayla remains undiagnosed. The doctors have not been able to determine what caused the congenital defects. She is currently participating in a study with the National Institutes of Health in an effort to find a diagnosis and better understand her medical conditions. Her medical issues are many and still evolving. This is what we know today about her medical condition:

  • Profoundly Deaf (left) & Moderate Hearing Loss (right)
  • Visual Impairment
  • Heart Defects—Bicuspid Aortic Valve & a hole in her Heart
  • Kidney Defects—Left kidney removed in March 2013 before 1st birthday
  • Tethered Spinal Cord – Surgery to spinal surgery in November 2014 to untether the cord
  • Born with Cleft Palate which was repaired in September 2012
  • Fed 100% by Gastronomy Tube (G-Tube)
  • GERD (Gastroesophageal reflux disease)
  • Hypotonia (low muscle tone / reduced muscle strength)
  • Reproductive Abnormalities
  • Significant Developmental Delays—approximately 2 years behind; Not talking, scooting, crawling, or walking.

The Charities

  • Benton House: in operation since 1907, Benton House is a non-profit group that gives back to the Bridgeport community of Chicago with youth programs, a food pantry, community garden, and so much more.
  • Special Olympics Chicago: Special Olympics Chicago is able to provide year round events and training for adults and children with intellectual and developmental disabilities.
  • Advocate Children’s Hospital: this medical group is dedicated to providing the best care for children with heart conditions as well as research into new treatments.

Contact One for the Kids for More Information

To learn more about the event and how you can help, please click below to contact us. One for the Kids was formed back in 1993 by people who wanted to make a difference in the community. Over the years we’ve managed to raise and donate more than $1,000,000 to Chicago-area families and charities. We hope you’ll join us for the 8th Curve Ball on February 13, 2016.

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