The Fund provides services and equipment to children with special health care needs that no other resource – including state or federal programs – provides. The Fund was created in 1944 with a large bequest of Dow Chemical stock by Dr. and Mrs. James Pardee. Dr. Pardee was a co-founder of the Dow Chemical Company. The Pardees’ gift remains a major portion of the Fund. It has been supplemented by donations made by many other individuals over the past 58 years. This generosity has enabled the Fund to help thousands of families. The Fund is administered through the Michigan Department of Community Health.