Are you going to be in the city on Sunday, December 11th? Join us at Bar 29, 3rd Avenue and 29th Street at 12:30 – 6:00 pm. Stop by, have a beer and watch some football. A $10.00 donation and your beer is on us! We will be raffling off some sports memorabilia, 50-50, etc. Most of all you will be helping a little girl in Kenya start a new life. Bring your friends. More details on Facebook. While you’re there “like us” to follow our progress.
I just got an email stating that we have raised enough money to fund Saline’s first of three major surgeries! She will be admitted to Kenyatta National Hospital on December 13th and her surgery is scheduled for December 16th. Here is a little info about her surgeon.
Dr. Ferdinand Wanjala Nangole – Did his Plastic Surgery fellowship at the University of Cape Town (UCT), is employed by the Kenyatta National Hospital (KNH) and practices Plastic Surgery in Nairobi. Ferdinand is a fellow of the European Board of Plastic Reconstructive and Aesthetic Surgeons (EBOPRAS). He is a member of the KNH multi-disciplinary microvascular team and is an Operation Smile volunteer surgeon as well as a Smile Train Partner.
The first surgery will focus on her cleft palate, lip and part of her nose. This will make a big quality of life difference for Saline. She will be able to eat without food coming out of her nose. Her speech will improve and most of all, she will begin looking like other kids!
With your help we have raised enough for her first surgery, but we need more money for the next two.
Next fundraising event: Sunday December 11- NYC Bar 29 – Football Sunday
Technology can be your best friend or your worst enemy. Today was a busy day in our chartless, paperless all digital orthodontic office. Electronic check in, chairside charting and imaging, digital radiography all enhance our ability to serve our patients well. However, this afternoon our servers went down and our internet phones shut down. I was immediately in contact with our IT guys, who told me it was related to the recent electrical storm. I fell behind schedule and patients and parents were kept waiting. In the middle of the chaos, one of the moms comes over and gives me a check for the Smile Rescue Fund for Kids and later another mom stuffed a one hundred dollar bill into my hands to be donated to the fund. Wow. How about that. Bottom line: today was a good day.
Under the guidance of Mrs. Robin Siegel, a dedicated group of 2nd and 3rd graders at Barton Elementary School got together after school to raise money to help Saline get her surgery.
The children had the fantastic idea to sell bracelets throughout the school at $1 each. Engraved on each bracelet were the words “Kids Working for Kids.” I visited the school to talk about Saline and the Smile Rescue Fund for Kids. The children were very curious about the details of my missions and asked many questions. I asked them how they felt about participating in the project. The consensus was that it “felt good inside to help someone else.”
I couldn’t agree more.
We congratulate Mrs. Siegel and the students at Barton Elementary School and hope that this will be a model for other schools.
Are you a teacher or parent interested in developing a fundraising program? Contact me and I’ll be happy to help: leon@smilerescuefund.org
