What We Do and How we Do It

We go personally to the children so they know even in the bleakness of their situations, there are people who know them and care deeply about them. Personal involvement wherever funds are used is one of our major distinguishing features. We provide food and clothing as well as engaging in larger endeavors to improve quality of life by major infrastructure projects. These projects have included installing an underground water system for a school that previously had only polluted hand cranked well water, replacing all the World War II era desks, chairs and tables and establishing a one-of-a kind center that helps women that are hurting (usually single moms). Personal involvement also provides maximum assurance to our donors that donations are used wisely and with integrity.

Another hallmark of Struggling Kids is maximizing the impact of each dollar spent. Board Members and others are non-compensated volunteers who support their own travel expenses. Each donor can rest assured that donations benefit children and abused women to the maximum extent possible. An added benefit of this hands on approach to Dr. Stillwagon is ability to see the happy faces of the children being helped, which is a special love of his. He goes to the sites working and playing with the kids while dispensing the aid. His nine trips to Ukraine so far testify to this level of dedication.

About our President and CEO

Gary B. Stillwagon, Ph.D., M.D., F.A.C.R. founded Struggling Kids as a hands on way to help those in need from Atlanta, Georgia, USA to communities in other countries. Dr. Stillwagon earned a B.S. in Physics, then M.S. and Ph.D. degrees in Nuclear Engineering from Georgia Tech in Atlanta. After working a year as a radiation physicist he found his passion in medicine and entered medical school, receiving the M.D. degree from The University of Tennessee. He received his residency training at The Johns Hopkins Hospital in Oncology where he was elected President of the House Staff and then served over four years as a faculty member in the Johns Hopkins School of Medicine. He was an American Cancer Society Clinical Fellow and has authored a number of academic papers. In 1999 he was selected a Fellow in the American College of Radiology and in 2001 and again in 2010 was voted one of the “Top Doctors in Atlanta” by other physicians. He is listed in Who’s Who in America. He is currently in clinical practice in Atlanta Oncology Associates. atlantaoncology.com

Accountability

We are governed by a Board that consists of those who have demonstrated a heart for helping others like Mr. Steve Harkey, a former NFL football player and teammate of Joe Nameth and John Riggins, who has founded an organization called Coach’s Corner to help coaches and student athletes and Paul Ismail, who co-owns a computer software company and co-founded an organization called Haven Bridge that works in Ukraine to help place older orphans in supportive environments that include institutions of higher learning. He and his wife have adopted a Ukrainian orphan girl.