Charity
Robby Benson is the recipient of the premiere Heart of a Child Award for the 21st century, along with famed UCLA Heart Surgeon, Hillel Lax. The Heart of a Child Foundation is dedicated to furthering research and treatment for congenital heart defects. Robby has spoken on behalf of the National Institute of Health before the Senate Appropriations Committee in Washington, D.C. for heart research funding. Representing the American Heart Association, he has spoken on behalf of the successful bill to ban the promotion of cigarettes to minors (Ted Kennedy/Orrin Hatch) along with with Surgeon General C. Everett Koop. In Columbia, South Carolina, Robby supported The Richland Memorial Children’s Hospital and the U.S.C. Department of Pediatrics where he established the benefit Robby Benson’s Hoops For Hope. He is the national spokesperson for the Batten Disease Support and Research Association, raising awareness of the rare fatal genetic neurological disorder in children. He has served as board chairman of the internationally known charity for mentally challenged performers, The Famous People Players (Toronto). Robby has been nominated to the board of the Actors’ Fund of America in Los Angeles, and he has worked with the Los Angeles Blind Children’s Center and numerous other community projects in Southern California.