Audrey Hepburn, known for her starring roles in films such as Roman Holiday, Breakfast at Tiffany’s and My Fair Lady, dedicated the last years of her life to helping children in need around the world. Audrey travelled to Africa, Asia and Latin America on behalf of the children until her death in 1993.
In 1994, Audrey's sons, Sean Ferrer and Luca Dotti, created the Audrey Hepburn Children's Fund in order to continue their mother's humanitarian work. The organization's Advisory Boards include both adult and child celebrities whose support heightens public awareness of the charity's causes.
The Audrey Hepburn Children's Fund, together with Salvatore Ferragamo, created an exhibition covering Audrey's career and work. The exhibition has toured ten cities worldwide since it opened in Sydney Australia in 1999. The proceeds have gone towards building a new facility for the Audrey Hepburn Children's House for abused and neglected children at Hackensack University Medical Center in New Jersey. The new facility opened in October 2002.
The Fund has recently entered into a partnership with Children's Hospital Los Angeles and founding sponsor Longines Watch Company to establish the Audrey Hepburn CARES Team at Children's Hospital Los Angeles. The CARES Team provides medical expertise to identify and treat the hundreds of children who are victims of abuse and neglect among the thousands of children who come to Children's Hospital Los Angeles each year for care.
Other Audrey Hepburn Children's Fund programs include the "All Children In School" Program, a recently established ten-year joint-venture with the U.S. Fund for UNICEF aimed at bringing 120,000,000 children worldwide back to school, and a partnership with Casa Alianza, fighting sexual exploitation of children in Central America.
The Audrey Hepburn Children's Fund supports its many diverse programs through corporate business partnerships, licensing, events, co-ventures with other foundations or institutions and public support.
