The Greater Lehigh Valley Auto Dealers Association (GLVADA) has announced a multi-year pledge totaling $100,000 for the Children’s Hospital at Lehigh Valley Hospital. The pledge is GLVADA’s largest charitable gift ever.

This year’s auto show preview gala, “Gear Up For Excitement,” 6-10 p.m. March 16, Goodman Campus, Lehigh University, Bethlehem, features a St. Patrick’s Day theme with Irish fanfare and entertainment, including Kids in Kilts Lehigh bagpipers, Celtic and American folk music, bagpipe rock ‘n’ roll and Irish folk singers.

The auto show opens March 17 and continues through March 20 at the Goodman Campus.

“This year, we felt compelled to make the largest donation in our history,” said Rob Bennett, chair of GLVADA’s charitable contributions committee. “The gift will be used to support the transfer of the pediatric cancer and infusion center from Lehigh Valley Hospital - Muhlenberg to the Cedar Crest Boulevard location of the Children’s Hospital at Lehigh Valley Hospital.”

J. Nathan Hagstrom, MD, chair, Lehigh Valley Health Network (LVHN) Department of Pediatrics, said the support from the auto dealers association will help the Children’s Hospital at Lehigh Valley Hospital to create a child-friendly waiting area for the Children’s Cancer and Infusion Center at the new location. Construction of the center has not begun.

“Our cancer patients will visit our outpatient center over 30 times before they are finished with their course of treatment. Cancer patients can spend hours and sometimes the entire day in the outpatient center,” said Dr. Hagstrom.

“For these reasons, we want our new center to be child and family-centered. We want it to feel comfortable, positive and fun to the children and their families,” Dr. Hagstrom said.

“Kids, cars and community say it all for the Greater Lehigh Valley Auto Dealers Association,” said Tom Kwiatek, GLVADA executive director. “The proceeds from the auto show each year are used to support many important community organizations, but the money we raise at the preview gala is always dedicated to a specific charity or charities that do vital work for children.”

Children’s Hospital at Lehigh Valley Hospital provides family-centered care for children, including inpatient and ambulatory care, a children’s ER, subspecialties in 28 pediatric specialties and child-specific services such as rehabilitation and burn care as well as general pediatrics.

The Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU) offers medical and surgical care for newborns and premature infants. The NICU, the region’s only Pediatric Intensive Care Unit (PICU), a seven-bed unit devoted to the care of critically-ill or injured children, and the Pediatric Specialty Center are at the Cedar Crest campus.

The Pediatric Ambulatory Surgical Unit (PASU) is at the LVH-Muhlenberg campus. The outpatient pediatric clinic at LVH-17th Street in Allentown handles more than 33,000 visits a year.