|
"I am 23 years old, and I have two children. Six weeks ago, I walked an hour to a nearby hospital to give birth to my son. When he was born, he could barely breathe or eat. I was sent home. I was panicking. The following day, I rode a motorcycle, with my son strapped to my back, to have him evaluated at another hospital. When my baby and I arrived, we were sent home again because there was no pediatrician available to help us. I came back a couple of days later I learned that my baby had a large tongue mass that prevented him from breastfeeding. This time, the local medical team was able to drain the mass. However, it grew back rapidly because of a lack of proper equipment in the hospital, resulting in even more feeding problems. I was sent home again. I was losing hope. My baby was suffering from malnutrition and I was terrified. We traveled over 200 kilometers (124 miles) on multiple public buses to arrive here on Monday. Thankfully, we made it. The surgeons here were able to permanently remove it. I am very happy. I almost lost hope. My son was able to have the surgery. He can comfortably breathe and breastfeed. We are now doing well."
Thank you for reaching out to us. Most of our programs were initiated by requests for help or referral of cases. We try our best to get back to you and to help as much as we can. Sometimes if there are multiple cases referred from the same region, we would try to put together a surgical team to help more people with limited resources. If it's one single case, we try to help by either fly the patient to a partner hospital, or work with a partner organization to send help.
If you have a patient/patients to refer, please email hello@mendingkids.org with the following details:
Once you sent over the requested documents, please allow us 3-5 workdays to get back to you regarding whether we can help or what we can do for the next steps. Unfortunately, we can not help with cancer, organ transplant, or patients with down syndrome, but we can send you a list of other amazing nonprofits that target these specific conditions.  As volunteer surgeon with Mending Kids for nearly 10 years, Dr. Andre Panossian is an award-winning, Harvard-trained board certified plastic surgeon with a 12-year practice in Los Angeles and Pasadena, CA. A first-generation American-Armenian whose drive for participating in and leading international medical missions has remained constant since his early residency at USC and 7-year tenure at Children's Hospital Los Angeles, Dr. Panossian initiated the very first Mending Kids mission to Armenia in 2015 -- a solo, independent effort made of grace and grit. Four years later, his annual Armenia mission continues to grow, as it now offers reconstructive and/or plastic surgery to treat conditions for underserved pediatric and adult patients in or near Yerevan, Armenia every year.
Our Armenia mission continues to expand with recent inclusion of teaching, education and contribution of the latest medical instruments and resources from Dr. Panossian's team to surgeons in Armenia. Equipment donations have included everything from surgical power equipment such as drills and saws to magnification loupes for in-country surgeons. In addition, Dr. Panossian incorporates focused lectures to Yerevan’s residents and medical students on complex reconstructive problems such as facial paralysis reconstruction using his innovative reanimation technique, vascular anomalies treatment, neurofibromatosis surgery, congenital hand anomalies and pediatric plastic surgery. Each mission includes over 20 physicians from the region to attend pre-op clinics, formal lectures and bedside teaching. These occasions are rare for Armenian doctors but a welcome opportunity to learn and test fundamental reconstructive principles, so that they can continue treat the large population of children in the region. Dr. Panossian also communicates with his Armenian patients, their families and doctors throughout the year via telemedicine. Dr. Andre Panossian specializes in rhinoplasty, facial paralysis and cosmetic & reconstructive surgery of the face, breast and body. Dr. Panossian is additionally renown for being one of the top surgeons in the United States who treats and removes tumors on patients who live with Neurofibromatosis. A surgeon who rotates his work between pediatric and adult cases, Dr. Panossian has been featured as one of LA Business Journal's "Top Doctors," was named a go-to plastic surgeon for "Rhinoplasty in Los Angeles" by Maxim Magazine and was also featured on CBS Nightly News in 2015 for his part in a groundbreaking, twin-separating surgery in Haiti. Some of his most unique facial paralysis surgeries have been featured on CBS' "The Doctors," ABC's "Good Morning America," ABC-7 and KTLA-5 News (Los Angeles) and The Los Angeles Times. Dr. Panossian is married to television and media parenting personality Jill Simonian of TheFABMom.com and dad to two daughters. Visit Dr.Panossian.com for more information and connect with Dr. P on Instagram and Facebook @drpanossian.  When I took this job, I was told it was a 4 month position, but I didn’t hesitate in saying YES. I had no doubt that in only 4 months, I could make a difference in a child’s life. 4 months turned into 12 years, on an amazing journey with Mending Kids. I can’t begin to tell you how rewarding this job has been for me on a professional and personal level. Having been born in one of the poorest countries in the Americas, Nicaragua, I understand and lived the struggle. After I moved to the U.S., my beginnings fueled in me the passion to help others. My position began at Robin’s Nest, a beautiful house dedicated to the wellbeing of children and parents Mending Kids brought to Los Angeles for surgical care. It was a house full of love, generosity and compassion. Children in various stages of recovery, walking around, in wheelchairs, convalescing from surgeries, but always with a smile on their faces. Meeting people from different countries, airport trips in the middle of the night, hospital visits, after-hours phone calls, all to save a child’s life. And it was all worth it!!! Fast forward 12 years, 64 countries, 4000+ children mended later, and still with Mending Kids. What a journey! Now, as a Director of Mission Services, I am responsible for our Overseas surgical missions, Individual International and U.S. surgical care programs and our Hometown missions. I’m still as excited and passionate as I was on my first day.
Thank you, Mending Kids, for allowing me to play a small part in helping make the world a better place.
I want to express my genuine thanks and gratitude to The Cusumano Family Foundation, our staff, board, gala committee, our family of friends, sponsors, donors, partners, volunteers, and newcomers, who all came together on a blistery Thursday to prepare for our gala and join us in celebration of our three deserving honorees (Sienna Dugan, MemorialCare Millers Children’s and Women’s Hospital Long Beach and Dr. Robert Bernstein) and then stayed to help us wrap up. On a personal note, it meant the world to me to be able to share the night with my 95-year old dad who attended and was able to finally see and understand the magnitude of the work that we at Mending Kids do. He gave me the most heart-felt hug which made all the effort worth it. I have thought long and hard since that embrace, about the impact our Mending Kids Gala night will have on our yet-to-be mended children and our goal to reach our 5,000th child in 2020. Our intention is simple: To give children the opportunity to have a healthy, purpose-filled future, one that allows them to reach the twilight of a life well-lived while receiving lots of hugs along the way. On February 21st, we all came a step-closer to making this a reality for many children in the near-future and we have you to thank for this because, together, we are Mending Kids. With gratitude, Isabelle Fox Executive Director www.mendingkids.org Thank you to our photographers Howard Freshman and Bruce Kaplan for making our evening so memorable! And, thank you to all of our sponsors who made this night possible.www.flickr.com/photos/mendingkidsinternational/albums/72157689987638853
CALL FOR VOLUNTEERS PERU-General Mission-Dr.Duron (April 6th -14th)
TANZANIA-ENT Mission-Dr. WILLNER. (MAY 9th -16th)
 16-year-old, Elleni Solomon, has grown up with Mending Kids; volunteering at our Hometown missions, doing outreach and recently co-founding the Mending Kids Club at Laguna Beach High. Elleni’s long-standing Mending Kids’ experience inspired her to write a children’s book, Isabella and The Magical Brush, that teaches children the importance of dental hygiene. Her mom, Alem, had open-heart surgery as a girl and stressed to her that oral infections or bacteria can travel to your heart and cause further problems like heart disease, and for this reason, Elleni, felt the need to both inform and forewarn others. "By educating our younger generations, we can help them lead healthier and positive lives," says Elleni. The importance of dental hygiene is something she believes all children should be educated on to benefit their future selves; especially children in under-served or resource-poor countries. Her book is currently being translated into Spanish and will be distributed by Mending Kids on surgical missions to Spanish speaking countries. Now, this is something worth smiling about!
CRITICAL SURGICAL CARE FOR SICK CHILDREN FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE CONTACT: Danielle Vogt 818-843-6363 ext 1006 Mending Kids Holds Seventh Annual “Imagine” Wings Gala in L.A. Mending Kids “Imagine” Gala Has Huge Turnout With Hope and Inspiration As Theme (Glendale, Calif., February 26, 2019) – Mending Kids held “Imagine,” its seventh annual Wings Gala & Awards Ceremony on Thursday, February 21, at 6 pm at the Skirball Cultural Center in Los Angeles. The event was sponsored by the Cusumano Family Foundation. Despite a postponement due to the Woolsey fire in November and the strange, snowy, local weather that day, the gala was well-attended with over 300 participants. The event is Mending Kids' largest and most important fundraiser in support of critical surgical care for sick children all over the world; including in the USA. The evening recognized three honorees who have selflessly given their time and support to Mending Kids: Sienna Dugan, Children’s advocate and Southern Methodist University student, MemorialCare Miller Children’s & Women’s Hospital Long Beach, and Dr. Robert Bernstein, Chief of Staff Shriners Hospitals for Children-Portland. The Gala host, Former Miss USA and new Mending Kids Ambassador, Ali Landry, welcomed our guests and spoke of why giving back is such an important part of life, why helping children in need is so vitally important and that health insurance shouldn’t be taken for granted. Landry, Mom of 3, said, “Speaking to you as a mother of three, I have health insurance; my children have health insurance. I am fortunate to have easy access to specialized care for myself and for my kids.” Ms. Landry drew attention to the several dozens of medical providers that were gathered in the Guerin Pavilion to note that there were officially more experts present than there are in most countries we serve. Around the world, millions of children live without access to the life-saving and life-changing pediatric surgical care that they need. Mending Kids recruits volunteer teams of surgeons and medical professionals from renown medical centers all over the U.S. and Europe and deploy them to developing countries to treat children suffering from a variety of critical conditions, while training the local medical professionals to elevate their standards of care building toward self-sufficiency. They also help U.S. children through their Los Angeles Hometown Missions. Board member and veteran Mending Kids surgeon, Dr. Ayal Willner, said, “The Gala was such a wonderful display of the amazing people who do such great work helping kids all over the world! Supporting this work in any way, as a medical professional, as a staff person, and as a donor, allows us all to be a part of the Mending Kids dream.” Special celebrity guests included Mckenna Grace of the upcoming Captain Marvel film, Ryan Ochoa of the soon-to-be released Indie film Room For Rent, Marcello Reyes of Modern Family and Musician and Actor, Dominic Scott Kay, Former Good Day L.A. Host, Mending Kids Ambassador, and Board Member, Dorothy Lucey and CBS News Anchors David Goldstein and Pat Harvey. The night’s donations will go to support Mending Kids’ Overseas Surgical Missions, individual surgical care program and their Los Angeles Hometown Mission. For more information about Mending Kids visit www.mendingkids.org END### (Pictured Top left; Actress, Mckenna Grace, handing out Bears to bidders. Top right; Mending Kids newest ambassador and Gala host, Ms. Ali Landry. Bottom left; Hope Award nominee Sienna Dugan with Ethiopian Mended Kid, Werkneh. Bottom right; New Executive Director Isabelle Fox (center) with gala co-chairs Rana Gebran (left) and Carmela De Brouwer (right). About Mending Kids Mending Kids provides life-saving surgical care to children worldwide. Since 2006, thousands of children have received corrective, transformational surgeries that have given them a chance at longer, healthier and happier lives. As well as providing surgeries, our overseas surgical teams train local staff towards medical sufficiency in their communities. Most of the surgeries performed correct congenital heart defects, orthopedic abnormalities, severe scoliosis, and significant craniofacial deformities. Mending Kids’ work is accomplished through four core programs: Overseas Surgical Missions, US Hometown Missions, Individual Surgical Care, and Training Research and Innovation. |
Mending Kids is a 501(c) 3 nonprofit organization registered in California, United States of America.
Copyright Mending Kids © 2019