Every August since 2013, National Immunization Awareness Month has leveraged the last stretch of summer – when many families are booking back-to-school physicals anyway – to emphasize that staying current on vaccines protects more than just the person getting the shot. It protects the infant too young to be vaccinated, the grandparent with a weakened immune system and the classmate who can't get certain vaccines for medical reasons. 

That reminder feels especially timely this year, with the U.S. on pace for its worst measles year in more than three decades and kindergarten vaccination coverage sliding below the threshold needed for community immunity.

But immunization is just one piece of a much larger picture: ensuring access for kids and families to basic, high-quality healthcare, regardless of zip code, income or immigration status. 

This month, we're celebrating nine nonprofits, from the hospital aiding a Chinatown community in its own languages to the foundation shipping stuffed bears to children's hospital rooms nationwide.

This post is part of Breakthrough Nonprofits, an extension of Give Lively's monthly newsletter for nonprofit professionals. Each month, the series spotlights organizations that refuse to accept the status quo, whether that's an outdated funding model, a gap in access or an entire community going without care. For National Immunization Awareness Month, we're celebrating nonprofits bringing essential healthcare within reach, especially for kids.

The nonprofits

The Give Lively member nonprofits featured below are leading examples of breakthrough work in immunization and children's healthcare.

Sabin Vaccine Institute

Sabin Vaccine Institute is pursuing a future free from vaccine-preventable disease, building on the legacy of Dr. Albert Sabin, creator of the oral polio vaccine. It develops new vaccines for high-risk diseases that drugmakers often overlook, such as Marburg and Sudan ebolaviruses, while also helping governments make evidence-based decisions about which vaccines to prioritize. Through its Vaccine Acceptance and Demand initiative, the organization digs into the social and behavioral roots of vaccine hesitancy and trains journalists and healthcare providers to counter misinformation with reliable, science-based facts.

Lexington Medical Center Foundation

Lexington Medical Center Foundation channels its resources into the patients and families of South Carolina's Midlands region, from cancer and cardiopulmonary care to a Women & Children's program for new mothers and their babies. Its 2026 Community Outreach Grants put $1.5 million behind local nonprofits expanding access to dental treatment, vision services and medical clinics for uninsured neighbors. It even helps cover emergency costs for hospital employees hit by their own crises, a reminder that caregivers need care too.

enCourage Kids Foundation

enCourage Kids Foundation has spent nearly 40 years bringing joy, hope, resilience and emotional healing to children facing cancer and other serious illnesses, most visibly by delivering stuffed animals to hospitalized kids through its "Send a Smile, Send a Bear" program. Its reach is considerable: partnerships with more than 330 hospitals across all 50 states and Puerto Rico, supporting over a million children a year. Since 1985, it has put more than $50 million toward the equipment, technology and comforts that help young patients feel like kids again, even in a hospital.

LADMC Foundation

LADMC Foundation strengthens the health of Los Angeles County one community event at a time, running annual health fairs that serve roughly 20,000 patients with vaccinations, screenings and basic care. It also trains the next generation of nurse leaders and it hosts public health education events reaching thousands more each year, with particular attention to residents experiencing homelessness who require behavioral health support. Scholarships and professional development round out its efforts, a vital investment in the healthcare workforce.

Chinese Hospital Association

Chinese Hospital has met the needs of San Francisco's Chinatown for more than 125 years. It still operates as a community-owned nonprofit hospital rather than a corporate one. It blends Western medicine with acupuncture and herbal treatments, and it delivers its services in Cantonese and other languages so patients never have to choose between quality care and being understood. Community clinics across San Francisco and Daly City extend that same culturally grounded approach well beyond the hospital's walls.

Population Council

Population Council is a global research organization that has spent decades turning evidence into better health policy, with a particular focus on adolescent wellbeing, gender equity and sexual and reproductive health. Its GIRL Center studies how young women navigate the transition to adulthood safely, while its Humanitarian Task Force designs health solutions for communities in crisis. With operations in more than a dozen countries, it values rigorous research as a tool for expanding access, not just an academic exercise.

Wisconsin Medical Society Foundation

Wisconsin Medical Society Foundation pursues a dual angle: strengthening community health initiatives across the state while investing in the physician workforce. Based in Madison, it supports medical education and training that keeps Wisconsin's healthcare pipeline strong for the long haul. It's a reminder that expanding access isn't only about patients; it's about making sure there are enough providers to see them.

Foundation for International Medical Relief of Children (FIMRC)

FIMRC operates on a simple premise: healthcare and education are human rights, not privileges tied to where you happen to have been born. It runs project sites in medically underserved communities around the world, pairing hands-on volunteers with virtual initiatives that connect supporters to public health programs overseas. Its Adopt-a-Project model lets donors fund a specific site directly, closing the distance between a gift and the family it reaches.

Standish Foundation for Children

Standish Foundation for Children is out to change what a hospital visit feels like for a kid, by training healthcare providers to reduce fear and pain during pediatric sessions. Through playroom sponsorships, global fellowships and volunteer surgical missions, the Austin, Texas-based organization equips medical teams with the tools to guide children’s understanding of what's happening to them instead. Its vision is refreshingly plainspoken: a world where children and families aren't traumatized by the healthcare that's supposed to help them.