Dream Come True Honors Dr Fong

MONROE — Dream Come True of Western Connecticut paid tribute to Newtown resident Jack Fong, MD, chairman of the Department of Pediatrics at Danbury Hospital, as its first honoree at the annual gala on Saturday, March 19, at Waterview on Route 34 in Monroe.

A recognized child advocate, Dr Fong began his involvement with Dream Come True of Western Connecticut in 1985. He has served as medical advisor and more recently as a board member.

It was the opportunity to help children in yet another capacity that attracted Dr Fong to the Dream Come True organization. His pediatric expertise has been an invaluable resource in helping other board members understand the illnesses and medical aspects of “dream children.”

“The Dream Come True kids are heroes and role models to us all. Instead of being angry at the world, they have accepted and taken with pride, courage, and stamina what Mother Nature has given them,” said Dr Fong.

Dr Fong’s basic belief that everything starts from the home has been the determinant factor in choosing his profession and outside activities. “If we can all care about our family and neighbors, the world would be a better place,” he said.

He is a graduate of the McGill University Medical School in Montreal and, in addition to his position at Danbury Hospital, is associate clinical professor at New York Medical College and the Yale University School of Medicine.

Dr Fong’s passion has been to make the world a better place for children.

“All kids are my kids,” he says. “Taking care of them is more than dishing out medicine — it’s also emotional care and providing them with every type of nourishment. For the sake of humanity’s future we need to invest in the needs of children. If they do well, we all do well.”

Accomplishing that goal includes an upbringing that challenges and guides them, rather than controlling them, he said.

In addition to Dream Come True of Western Connecticut, Dr Fong also serves on other community organizations that serve children including, Green Chimneys, a boarding facility for children with psychological problems; Media Literacy, an organization that educates parents and children how to read the real message presented in the media; Wellness on Wheels, a mobile health unit that serves uninsured and underinsured adult and pediatric patients in Danbury; and Fairfield County Safe Kids.

He serves as health advisor to New Fairfield Public Schools; and is a member of the Advisory Council for MIT for Child Abuse Prevention. For the past several years, he also has organized conferences on child abuse and Danbury Hospital’s Annual Children’s Day.

Dream Come True of Western Connecticut was founded in 1984 with one purpose in mind: to grant wishes to seriously, chronically, and terminally ill children from Fairfield, Litchfield, and New Haven Counties. Dream Come True is a nonprofit, all volunteer organization. There are no administrative costs. Every dollar and in-kind contribution goes directly to helping children fulfill their dreams.