UH Rainbow Babies & Children’s gets $17M gift to boost cancer research

University Hospitals Rainbow Babies & Children’s Hospital has received its largest-ever individual gift, $17 million, from a Cleveland-area couple whose daughter died at age 14 from skin cancer.

The gift from Char and Chuck Fowler will go toward boosting cancer research, a new outpatient treatment facility, an expanded inpatient unit for pediatric and young adult patients, plus a rooftop garden, according to a statement from University Hospitals (UH).

The donation will establish the The Angie Fowler Child & Young Adult Cancer Institute, named for the Fowler’s daughter who died from melanoma in 1983.

The gift is part of a $1 billion UH fundraising campaign that was publicly announced last year with a $42 million donation. The campaign, called “Discover the Difference: The Campaign for University Hospitals,” began in a “quiet phase” in 2003. The campaign has so far yielded $780 million, according to the statement.

“We are very pleased to support Rainbow’s initiatives in research and treatment for teens with cancer,” said Chuck Fowler, CEO of Chardon, Ohio-based industrial sand producer Fairmount Minerals. “There is so much that could be done to help this age group, and we hope this gift in our daughter Angie’s honor will make a profound difference in the quality of life and survival rates, and address the particular needs of this important population.”

Cancer is the leading disease killer for people aged 15 to 39, according to the statement.