Thank you to all who joined us at Peter Strauss Ranch last weekend and to our sponsors and supporters of this year's Hike 2 Mend. Your incredible generosity and unwavering support have yielded resounding success, and we're on the path to more mending! The funds raised through Hike 2 Mend will fuel our upcoming missions in Iquitos, Peru, Mwanza, Tanzania, and Guatemala City, Guatemala, all scheduled for the next few months. Friends, In just 5 days, we embark on another extraordinary journey to support children in need of life-changing surgical care. Hike 2 Mend has always been a symbol of unity, compassion, and collective action, and we invite you to walk with us once more. Event Details Date: October 7, 2023 Time: 8:00 AM - 11:00 AM Location: Peter Strauss Ranch, Agoura Hills, CA Hike 2 Mend is not just an event; it's an opportunity for our growing community to unite and amplify our cause, ensuring children everywhere can access the care they need. As a symbol of the challenges parents face, we invite you to Carry the Load: For those willing to take on the symbolic weight of a child's journey, participants can choose to carry backpacks weighing between 5 lbs to 20 lbs, filled with rice. This weight represents the burden parents bear when seeking medical care for their children, raising awareness for the half-billion underserved children worldwide in need of surgical intervention. The rice and other essential supplies will be donated to the West Valley Food Pantry after the event. Your unwavering support this year has been nothing short of remarkable, enabling us to expand our programs and mend 14 Kids in Tacloban City, Philippines and send another team out this week to mend hearts in Tanzania. We want to express our heartfelt gratitude and invite you to join us on this meaningful hike.
This Saturday, October 7, 2023, join us on this beautiful path of compassion and change. See you on the trail! Hike 2 Mend has evolved into a symbol of unity, compassion, and collective action. We stand together to raise awareness and honor the formidable journey parents worldwide endure in their quest to secure surgical care for their children, battling relentless barriers or navigating insurance eligibility and denials. When: October 7, 2023, 8am - 11am Location: Peter Strauss Ranch, Agoura Hills, CA We extend our heartfelt gratitude for your unwavering support. This year, your contributions have been pivotal in expanding our programs and providing essential aid to countless children in need. We want to thank you. Walk with us and whether you can join us in person or show your support from afar, we deeply appreciate you. Hike 2 Mend is an opportunity for our growing community to unite and amplify our cause in support of giving children everywhere the opportunity to access the care they need.
For those willing to take on the symbolic weight of a child's journey, we invite you to bring rice and canned goods, to be donated to the West Valley Food Pantry after the event. Carry the Load: Participants can choose to carry 5 lb to 20 lb backpacks filled with nonperishables, representing the weight of a child a parent must carry when seeking medical care for their child. Together, we raise awareness for the half-billion underserved children worldwide in need of surgical intervention. Join us on this beautiful path of compassion and change. Together, we can make a profound impact on the lives of children in need. We are immensely grateful for your support and eagerly anticipate your involvement. See you on October 7th! We want to take a moment to express our heartfelt gratitude to Gene Simmons, who celebrated a special birthday with friends, family, and bandmates in support of mendingkids.org! The result? A memorable birthday bowling bash that not only brought strikes and stars, but will also make a significant impact on the lives of many children. Gene's dedication serves as a reminder of the positive change that can be ignited by one individual rallying his community’s generosity and spirit. We are immensely grateful. As we came together on Gene’s birthday, we also celebrated the opportunity for many more children to enjoy birthdays for years to come thanks to the lasting impact of the life-changing surgical care they will now receive.
Once again, thank you, Gene, and thank you to all those who attended, supported, and contributed in honor of your great friend’s birthday. Save the date - October 7, 2023 at Peter Strauss Ranch - for our 5th annual Hike 2 Mend! Join us as we celebrate the extraordinary commitment of parents who overcome barriers to access surgical care to save their children's lives. Whether you're an avid hiker, simply love going for a walk, Hike 2 Mend is more than just a hike. It’s an opportunity for us to come together as a community, advocate for equitable healthcare for all, and honor the journey a parent takes to save their child.
By participating, sponsoring, spreading the word, or supporting in any way you can, you'll be making a life-saving difference in a child's future. Stay tuned for exciting updates as we prepare for this empowering day of hope, love, and mending. Sarai, a rising senior from De Toledo High School in Southern California, recently traveled with us on a mission to mend hearts in Managua, Nicaragua. She stepped out of her comfort zone and ventured into uncharted territories, discovering a world beyond the confines of textbooks and classrooms. As a non-medical volunteer, Sarai shadowed the interventional cardiology team, led by Dr. Michael Womack from St. Luke's Children's Hospital, as they provided lifesaving procedures to 12 kids. Sarai shares her experience, in her own words: "Because I had sort of stumbled into this mission through school, I was not sure what to expect going in. I knew that, in the past, missions had been fascinating and beneficial to other students interested in medicine at my school. Because of this, I was excited to have the opportunity to explore medicine in action. I never would have imagined the variety of jobs a doctor has, especially when working on a volunteer mission. I was surprised by the ethical challenges that doctors face and the humanity that is just as integral as the procedure itself. As I think back on my experience now that I am home, I realize the equal importance of the procedures and emotional support for the families. Walking into the hospital to pass out coloring books and crayons on the first day, I was overwhelmed and intimidated. I thought that, since I don't speak spanish, hanging out with the kids must not be the best way to help. I shied away from playing with the kids on my own, which I realize now was selfish. I could still smile and color with the kids so they feel seen and supported. As the parents and kids got to know me they would smile and say hi when I walked by. I noticed that I was, in fact, making connections through these awkward smiles, a thumbs up, and bringing them blankets and stuffed bears. In hindsight, if I were to do another mission, I would spend more time exploring this nonverbal communication, which, for most of the trip, I was afraid of. At first, these procedures were completely foreign to me. Luckily, the other volunteers and doctors kindly translated and explained the steps, challenges, and outcome of each procedure. I realized quickly that the doctors were more than happy to answer any questions I had, I just had to ask. By the end, I knew which aspects of the procedure were difficult and would nervously hold my breath until the doctors finished those parts. I also knew the patients by name and was rooting for each one.
In the future, if I were to come on another mission, I would love to incorporate this new knowledge. I would not let my fear of awkward situations hinder me from supporting the families and making connections with them. Also, I would make sure to ask even more questions. As I write this, I continuously think of information that I wish I had asked about while I was on this mission.” Sarai reminds us of all of the power we possess to bring smiles, make connections and positively impact the lives of others. It takes a special kind of courage and determination to leave your home, learn a new language, and train for five long years to become an intensivist; to be handed a freshly repaired heart and navigate the child’s next 24-48 hours of critical care, ensuring that he or she recovers and makes it home to the embrace of their loving family. I’m thrilled to be in Mauritius this week reconnecting with Vivienne, an intensivist from Jakaya Kikwete Cardiac Institute (JKCI) in Dar es Salaam, whose very name embodies her spirit. Vivienne, derived from the Latin word “vivus,” meaning “alive,” represents her commitment to breathing life into the patients she tends to. Vivienne was trained in Israel by our friends at Save a Child’s Heart (SACH). She returned to Dar es Salaam, fluent in Hebrew, to support Dr. Godwin Sharau, Tanzania’s first cardiac pediatric surgeon, who also graduated from the SACH program. For the past eight years, visits from Mending Kids and other surgical teams have provided a safety net as JKCI increases the complexity of congenital heart disease its staff is able to treat. In those eight years, our partnership has mended 245 kids. The institute now operates independently on about 200 children a year. Vivienne was recruited by Dr. Salvatore Agati, from the Vatican’s Centro Cardiaco Pediatrico del Mediterraneo, to travel with him on several missions, including a recent trip to Libya. This week, she is here with Dr. Agati and his team at the Cardiac Center in Pamplemousses, Mauritius, to provide guidance and share her knowledge with the local ICU staff as they care for newly mended hearts. It fills us all with immense pride and pleasure to see her in action. Vivienne’s well-earned accomplishments have made her a shining example of what’s possible when different groups with similar goals come together to support one another and build surgical capacity. To top it all off, Vivienne was recently accepted to pursue a Masters in Healthcare Quality and Safety at Harvard University! We could not be more proud of her. So here’s to all the Viviennes out there. Here’s to strong, intelligent, driven women who set out to make a difference. Here’s to Mauritius, Here’s to the future of sustainable critical surgical care in Africa and the Indian Ocean. Life is now. Together, we are Mending Kids.
Isabelle Fox Executive Director We’d like to take a moment to share an incredible patient success story, made possible by your generosity and support. Romina, our 2023 Imagine Gala Hope Award recipient and former Peruvian patient, embodies the strength, resilience, and hope that Mending Kids champions. Romina's journey began as a teenager when she suffered from catastrophic GI injuries in Lima, Peru. At the time, there were no experts available to provide the specialized treatment she desperately needed. As soon as Mending Kids became aware of Romina’s case, we recruited Dr. Dean Anselmo from Children’s Hospital Los Angeles. Dr. Anselmo prepared for and executed a small mission to save Romina’s life: mobilizing additional medical expertise and acquiring the specialized medical equipment necessary to restore her future. The surgery was a success, and Romina has used this second chance to embark on a journey to heal others. Since recovering from surgery, Romina has graduated from college with a degree in psychology. Her commitment to giving back is inspiring. She plans to provide emotional support to others suffering from catastrophic injuries. During her award acceptance speech, Romina made some moving remarks about her story. In case you were unable to attend, we’d like to share her words with you: We truly appreciate your commitment to Mending Kids as a monthly donor. It allows us to provide life-changing surgeries to young ladies like Romina. Your support has been instrumental in helping us achieve our milestone of mending 5000 children to date.
Together, we are transforming lives and empowering young individuals to overcome obstacles and fulfill their dreams. We want to shine the spotlight on a truly extraordinary dad: Michael McDonell. Alongside his wife Sydney, Mike has played a pivotal role in the lives of numerous children and their families, making a profound impact through selfless acts of kindness. Michael and Sydney were part of a compassionate diaspora of Mending Kids families who opened their homes to children from around the world, hosting them for life-saving surgeries here in the United States. 14 children found a nurturing and loving environment under their care, requiring an enormous commitment and unwavering dedication. Not to mention, they were also raising 4 children of their own! While on their worldly bucket list of adventures sailing the seas, Michael chatted with us on the phone during a stopover in Turkey. We reached out to feature him for Father's Day, and he was touched to reconnect with our community. We asked him what he had learned from his incredible experiences and if any moments or children stood out to him. Without hesitation, Michael brought up Domenica, from Ecuador. “She came into our lives seeking a life-changing heart surgery. One evening, enjoying dinner at a restaurant, I held Domenica in my arms, unaware that a mystical encounter was about to take place. Sitting across the table was a friend of a friend, a psychic, whose gaze seemed to fixate on me and Domenica. And then, without any prior context, she uttered ‘You may think Domenica came to you to have her heart healed, but she's actually here to heal your heart.’ Those words resonated into my soul, and I realized the profound truth behind them. The gifts we receive as caregivers are just as transformative as the love and care we offer these courageous children. The healing power of love knows no boundaries, and it forever changes those who embrace it with open arms.” Michael also fondly mentioned the very first baby they took care of: Putri, a girl orphaned by the tsunami that hit Indonesia. This precious child was hosted while she underwent and recovered from open-heart surgery to have a chance at a healthy life. Putri was returned to Indonesia and later adopted by her forever family. As we honor Michael for the immeasurable love, support, and care he has shown to children who needed it most, we applaud his extraordinary character as a father and father figure. We would like to recognize all the incredible fathers, wherever you are in the world, who strive to raise healthy, resilient, and compassionate children.
Wishing you all a joyful Father's Day celebration filled with love and appreciation. Together, we are mending kids. 5-year old Elise, from Cameroon, had her life changed by the power of surgical care and the kindness of strangers when she met Mending Kids. Her story is a testament to what can be achieved when people come together with a common goal: to mend children in need. Elise's journey began when her father reached out to Mending Kids. She was suffering from a spinal malformation that was untreatable in her country, and her family had exhausted all other options. With the help of our dedicated team and thanks to our kaleidoscope of monthly donors, Elise was approved for surgery at Shriners Children’s Hospital. Elise's journey was full of obstacles, including being denied a visa twice. However, through our tireless efforts, which included appeals to congressional representatives, and a volunteer flying to her hometown of Yaounde to escort her, Elise was finally able to travel to Los Angeles and then onto Portland for her life-changing surgery at Shriners Medical Center. [READ MORE] The results have been remarkable. Elise instantly grew two inches taller and is on her way to an impressive four-inch increase! Her mother's testimony speaks to the profound impact this has had on her family's life: "Honestly speaking, this is a dream come true...I remember severally she will always ask me 'mummy when will my back be straight?' My response was never mind one day your back will be straight. And behold, her back is straight." After 4 months, Elise’s host family, Bob and Kate, flew back with her to reunite with her family in Cameroon. But her journey is far from over. Elise will need to return to the US every 6 to 9 months for the next 6 years for the procedures necessary to ensure straight growth of her spine.
The life-changing impact of surgical care is undeniable, and thanks to our kaleidoscope of monthly donors we’re able to restore futures. A monthly commitment creates the safety net that allows us to provide vital surgeries to children like Elise, who have no other options. Join our community of changemakers, dedicated to transforming lives. |