Our Story

A doctor, an actress and a production manager walk into a coffee shop…. Sounds like the beginning of a good joke but, in fact, it was part of the humble beginnings of Teen Impact Affiliates.

Many times people cross our paths only for a brief moment but sometimes those encounters create a perfect storm of sorts. When Dr. Aura Kuperberg started Teen Impact 27 years ago little did she know through one of her patients she would meet a mom who would play an integral role in forming Teen Impact Affiliates.

Tammy Kaitz’s son, Dylan, was diagnosed with cancer in 2004 at age 14. Dylan was a patient at Children’s Hospital Los Angeles (CHLA) and participated in the Teen Impact Program run by Dr. Kuperberg. During the time that Dylan battled this horrible disease, his mom developed a relationship with Dr. Kuperberg. When CHLA approved Teen Impact to have their own affiliate arm, Dr. Kuperberg thought Tammy would be a good resource to enlist. Over the next year or so both Dr. Kuperberg and Tammy would meet a variety of people through business and social situations. Through their conversations they sensed when they clicked with someone who would bring value to the Teen Impact Affiliates board. Slowly but surely they invited lawyers, production managers, teachers, artists and others to join their growing board.

For the first two years, the board focused on creating a mission statement, applying for a separate 501C and all the other necessities of starting a program. We were also able to organize a few small fundraisers that helped contribute to the cost of the bi-monthly Teen Impact dinners and helped subsidize the other various services Teen Impact provides to patients and their families. Our biggest success to date came in September of 2013 when we were thrilled to host our first annual main fundraiser at the exclusive Sports Museum in Los Angeles.

We are excited to collaborate with so many enthusiastic, smart, passionate people that make up our board and look forward to what we can accomplish in years to come to support this wonderful program which gives a little bit of relief to families in a challenging situation.

We invite you to explore the rest of our website and consider joining us in some capacity. You may find, as we have, that it truly is better to give than to receive.