Coaches for the Kids, Coach Stein, present $1.35 million check to Golisano Children’s at UK
LEXINGTON, Ky. (Oct. 29, 2026) — UK football head coach Will Stein, with Coaches for the Kids (CFTK) board president Tim Francis, presented a check for $1.35 million to Golisano Children’s at UK. The gift will support programs and initiatives aimed at improving the health, safety and well-being of Kentucky’s children.
“Being part of Coaches for the Kids for the first time has shown me just how much this community cares about children and their families,” Stein said. “Every child deserves to feel safe, supported and loved and we are proud to help advance that mission alongside the dedicated people at Golisano Children’s at UK. We are grateful to everyone whose generosity is making a difference in these children’s lives.”
For more than two decades, CFTK has raised more than $9 million for the children’s hospital to fund initiatives dedicated to improving the health and well-being of Kentucky’s children and families. This year’s event raised more than $1 million — a record — with a matching gift that brought the total to $1.35 million.
“This year was especially meaningful for Coaches for the Kids Foundation as we celebrated a record-setting year in fundraising,” Francis said. “We are incredibly grateful to Coach Will Stein and the entire University of Kentucky football coaching staff for hosting our annual event and helping bring people together for such an important cause. Their leadership and commitment, along with the generosity of our sponsors, donors, and supporters, made this achievement possible. We are proud of what we accomplished together and excited about the impact these funds will have on the children and families served by Golisano Children’s at UK.”
This gift will support the Institute on Fostering Resilience, a partnership between UK Golisano Children’s Kosair Center for Safe and Healthy Children and Families and the UK Center on Trauma and Children dedicated to the continuum of care of children and families involved in out-of-home care.
“When a community comes together for its children, we can give them more opportunities to grow and build brighter futures,” said Scottie B. Day, M.D., vice president of children’s health for UK HealthCare and physician-in-chief for UK Golisano Children’s. “The Institute on Fostering Resilience helps children and families facing difficult circumstances find stability and hope. We’re grateful to Coach Stein and Coaches for the Kids for continuing UK football’s longstanding commitment to Kentucky’s children.”
“This extraordinary gift reflects what is possible when UK and our partners come together around a shared purpose,” said Eric N. Monday, executive vice president for finance and administration and co-executive vice president for health affairs. “The ongoing generosity of Coaches for the Kids strengthens support for some of Kentucky’s most vulnerable children and families. We are grateful for their longstanding partnership and investment in the future of Kentucky’s children.”
According to Kentucky Youth Advocates, nearly 8,000 children, from birth to age 17, in Kentucky are in foster care — a rate 60% higher than the national per capita average. Most are in the foster care system as a result of neglect, abuse, substance misuse by their caregiver or their inability to adequately care for children.
The Institute on Fostering Resilience is composed of four foundational areas designed to support training for medical providers, prevention and early intervention services for high-risk families, out-of-home care support and independent living resources for teens transitioning out of foster care.
“These are some of the most vulnerable children, and Kentucky has struggled with their placement, treatment and long-term outcomes and currently lacks the institutional infrastructure to address these challenges,” said Ginny Sprang, Ph.D., executive director of the UK Center on Trauma and Children. “The Institute was designed to fill this void by providing a continuum of evidence-based programming to address the needs of children and families involved in out-of-home care and to support the systems responsible for serving them.”
All Kentuckians are mandated reporters of child abuse and neglect. If you believe a child is being abused or neglected, call the Child Protection Hotline at 1-877-KYSAFE1 or 1-877-597-2331 or report online.
UK HealthCare is the hospitals and clinics of the University of Kentucky. But it is so much more. It is more than 10,000 dedicated healthcare professionals committed to providing advanced subspecialty care for the most critically injured and ill patients from the Commonwealth and beyond. It also is the home of the state’s only National Cancer Institute (NCI)-designated Comprehensive Cancer Center, a Level IV Neonatal Intensive Care Unit that cares for the tiniest and sickest newborns and the region’s only Level 1 trauma center.
As an academic research institution, we are continuously pursuing the next generation of cures, treatments, protocols and policies. Our discoveries have the potential to change what’s medically possible within our lifetimes. Our educators and thought leaders are transforming the healthcare landscape as our six health professions colleges teach the next generation of doctors, nurses, pharmacists and other healthcare professionals, spreading the highest standards of care. UK HealthCare is the power of advanced medicine committed to creating a healthier Kentucky, now and for generations to come.