Palm Beach Gardens, Fla. (February 15, 2023) – Celebrating 19 years of inspiring hope and promoting world-class pediatric care, the Nicklaus Children’s Health Care Foundation raised nearly $600,000 during its annual Golden Heart Luncheon at The Country Club at Mirasol on January 30.
The 16-time Grammy award-winning composer and producer David Foster, and his wife, American Idol alumna and singer Katharine McPhee, attended the luncheon as special guests, using their music and voices to help raise money for the Foundation. The celebrity couple wowed the crowd after performing iconic music classics such as “The Prayer” and “Glory of Love,” and “For Just a Moment” from the movie St. Elmo’s Fire.
However, 6-year-old Jaxon Budnick stole the show and the hearts of guests. Jaxon was born with metopic craniosynostosis, a rare condition that causes skull and facial deformities. Shortly after birth, he received one of the most complex surgeries for children at Nicklaus Children’s Hospital in Miami. Jaxon is now living a happy and healthy life with his family in Jupiter, Florida, and receives ongoing medical treatment close to home at Nicklaus Children’s Palm Beach Gardens Outpatient Center.
“I can’t thank the Nicklaus family enough for everything they have done and continue to do,” said Jaxon’s mother, Dara Budnick. “All the people and lives they are able to touch … it’s something that’s indescribable.”
“From an organizational perspective, what they’ve created has made it so easy for Jaxon to be a patient,” continued Jaxon’s father, Cliff Budnick. “It’s nice to have this extraordinary level of care in our own backyard.”
Jack and Barbara Nicklaus founded the Nicklaus Children’s Health Care Foundation in 2004 in an effort to provide families access to the best level of pediatric health care in Palm Beach County and beyond. Raising $170 million to date, the Foundation supports Nicklaus Children’s Hospital, which has helped children from every state in the union and 119 countries. The Nicklaus Children’s Health System includes the main hospital campus in Miami, and 21 centers from Monroe County to Martin County, as well as a pediatric partnership with Jupiter Medical Center.