Gateway graduate starts nonprofit to support families with medical bills

When Emaad Khan was 18, he had the idea to start Spread the Love Projects. Today, the 20-year-old Gateway High School graduate is the founder and president of the freshly launched organization.

Spread the Love Projects is a nonprofit organization that helps to fund families struggling with pediatric medical bills. The team hopes to relieve financial burdens and stress that comes with caring for children stricken with sickness and disabilities.

Born in Pakistan, Khan remembers the financial hardships that his family faced after moving to the United States. He and his siblings did not have a pediatrician, and they received vaccinations through federally supported community vaccination centers. As the years went on, he watched as his parents worked hard to make sure his family reached financial stability.

“Coming from a family that was not very fortunate growing up, we never had health coverage or health care,” Khan said.

He reminisced about the times in his childhood when his mother would donate money each year to organizations, despite his family not having financial abundance. She taught her son that it is important to give kindness to others and one day, kindness will return.

Khan took this to heart and has made it a Christmas Eve tradition to buy food and hand it out with his friends. He also serves as a volunteer emergency medical technician with Monroeville Fire Company 1.

Volunteering as an EMT gave Khan a firsthand look at how stressful the thought of money can be when receiving medical treatment.

“Their first questions weren’t, ‘Am I OK?’” said Khan. “Their first questions were, ‘How am I going to pay for this,’ and ‘I can’t pay for this.’ It was all very eye-opening.”

Spread the Love Projects intends to use proceeds to provide as much as possible, including assistance with medical bills, clothes, shoes, school supplies and transportation.

“I have these resources. I might as well use them to build something that can help people,” said Khan.

The organization started as an idea between Khan and his classmates at the University of Pittsburgh. There are now members of the team as far away as the University of California, Los Angeles, and Michigan State University. Khan is currently trying to add a physician on the board, along with a certified public accountant to ensure Spread the Love Projects is effectively helping families.

The group recently partnered with UPMC Children’s Hospital of Pittsburgh to help allocate a portion of the proceeds raised thus far.

“That’s not where all of our proceeds go,” said Khan. “We also have our own sector where we go out and give those funds ourselves. This partnership with the hospital really helps us build credibility and get donations, especially in a time where we’re so new and getting established.”

Spread the Love Projects is accepting donations on its website and is selling merchandise featuring the organization’s logo. All proceeds will be dedicated to helping families looking for support. The group will also be posting volunteer applications to the organization’s social media.

“We launched this summer and have had overwhelming support from the community and from people that we don’t even know because of our growth,” said Khan.

He intends to carry this organization with him into his professional years. Khan is majoring in biology with a minor in chemistry and is on the pre-medical track at the University of Pittsburgh.

Khan is hoping to host Spread the Love Projects’ first fundraising event on Nov. 27. For more information regarding the organization, funding applications and upcoming events, visit spreadtheloveprojects.org.