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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
CONTACT: Adrienne Johnson Cell: (626) 673-4424 Email: adriennejohnson1111@gmail.com Mending Kids, a Non-profit Organization Delivers in Demand Medical Supplies for Isolated Homeless COVID-19 Patients Glendale, Calif., March 23, 2020-As widespread shortages of medical supplies rapidly increase during the global coronavirus pandemic, Mending Kids, a non-profit organization, donated their own stock of supplies to the Department of Human Services stationed at Dockweiler State Beach RV Park. Located at 12001 Playa Del Ray, Dockweiler RV Park is one of many locations in Los Angeles County being temporarily used as a COVID-19 isolation and quarantine containment zone to shelter ill homeless individuals in need of a place to self-isolate. Like many non-profit organizations and local businesses, Mending Kids, which provides surgical care to underserved children in the US and internationally, has taken a proactive approach in response to the coronavirus outbreak. To minimize the spread and potential exposure of the virus to employees, patients, and the public, and in accordance with California’s “stay-at-home” order, the organization has temporarily halted its Overseas Surgical Missions. The Hometown Mission, one of Mending Kids core programs, will continue to help children in need of outpatient elective surgeries when it is safe to do so. Without hesitation, during this critical time of need, collaboration, and community, Isabelle Fox, Mending Kids Executive Director, along with Dr. Ayal Willner, ENT surgeon and Mending Kids board member, collected supplies from the non-profit’s inventory which included Tylenol, wound care, nasal cannulas, IV fluids, gloves, glucose analyzers, and stethoscopes among other necessities. These donations will go toward supplementing much needed medical resources which will be used for homeless patients quarantined at Dockweiler State Beach RV Park. Mending Kids urges individuals or businesses with extra masks or other personal protective equipment (PPE), to reach out to Hello@mendingkids.org so these resources can get to those in need. “There is no point in hoarding or watching our medical products expire. We need to do our part as an organization to support our brave local medical community and clinics battling this pandemic on the frontlines.”-Isabelle Fox, Executive Director of Mending Kids For more information about Mending Kids or to refer a patient to the Hometown Mission program please visit: www.mendingkids.org For the past 15 years, Mending Kids has relied on the support of volunteer doctors, nurses, and medical personnel. Now more than ever, these doctors, nurses, and medical personnel who are currently working on the frontlines battling the COVID-19 pandemic need our support. They are in dire need of personal protective equipment (PPE) to keep them safe and free of the spread of this virus. Mending Kids is currently working on coordinating available supplies. If you have extra masks or PPE, please reach out to us at Hello@Mendingkids.org. If you would like to help us purchase needed personal protection equipment for our healthcare heroes, donate online or Venmo @MendingKids.  During these difficult times, we are donating medical supplies to those in need. This past weekend, gloves, masks, disinfectants, Tylenol, among other things, headed to 2 clinics and a mobile unit that are operating out of Downtown and East L.A. monitoring COVID-19 and taking care of adults and children, the underserved and the homeless population. Dr. Dina Brent, a pediatrician who donates her services to support our Hometown Mission patients, came by to pick them up. She is one of our heroes on the frontlines. Additionally, Mending Kids staff and doctors delivered carloads of Tylenol, wound care, hygiene packs, nasal cannulas, glucose analyzers, stethoscopes and blankets to Dockweiler State Beach where the COVID-19 containment camp is stationed, equipped to house the sick homeless individuals who need to be isolated.
Infinity Films + A.J. Adelman & Associates integrated marketing research + communications ________________________________________________________________________ Mending Kids International PR Stats as of 02-12-2020 to 03-20-2020 Two Dogs Generate Over $100,000 For Critical Surgical Care For Children Link to Press Release/Pr Newswire: https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/two-dogs-generate-over-100-000-for-critical-surgical-care-for-children-301004232.html Total Pick-Ups/Mentions – TV, Newspapers, Websites, Blogs: 550 + Total Potential Audience: 81 Million +  Examples:
Yahoo! News: https://news.yahoo.com/two-dogs-generate-over-100-041300018.html Boston Chronicle: https://bostonchron.com/manews/two-dogs-generate-over-100000-for-critical-surgical-care-for-children-bostonchron-10050219 Ask.com: http://markets.ask.com/ask/news/read/39507831/ Star Tribune: http://markets.financialcontent.com/startribune/news/read/39507831/ Pittsburgh Post Gazette: http://markets.post-gazette.com/postgazette/news/read/39507831/ ABC7: https://www.abc-7.com/story/41695540/two-dogs-generate-over-100000-for-critical-surgical-care-for-children _____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ A.J. Adelman & Associates AJ Adelman 1000 S. Grand Ave., Suite 620 Adrienne Johnson Los Angeles, CA 90015 A.J. Adelman – 310.650.0220 aja90210@gmail.com www.infinityajpr.com
Ten high school students from MUSE School joined us in Guatemala this week, playing several vital roles in our mission: comforting patients through recovery, participating in outreach activities, assisting with our screening clinic, documenting, and more. Their open hearts and exceptional energies allowed us to perform three more unexpected surgeries -- totaling our patient count to 101 children in just five days. This is the fourth year MUSE has joined forces with us on our ENT mission to Guatemala, continuing to make a massive difference in the lives of many underserved children and their families. Way to go, MUSE! ❤️
Earlier today, the medical and non-medical teams left for our Cardiac Mission in Tanzania. This mission is lead by Dr. Evan Zahn, pediatric interventional cardiologist from Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles, and Dr. Salavatore Agati, cardiothoracic surgeon from Bambio Gesù Ospedale Pediatrico in Italy. In addition to the 120+ children that have received complex cardiac procedures through this mission, Dr. Zahn and Dr. Agati have been able to provide trainings to surgeons residing in Tanzania that have allowed them to perform over 100 life-saving surgeries without mission support since our last cardiac mission in 2018. As we continue to provide surgical care to children and mentorships to local surgeons this week, we are proud to announce that this is just the beginning of a self-sustaining medical center 🙌
“Our life has changed a lot since we adopted our twin 19 month old boys. They were born in China, abandoned at birth, were found at an apartment complex in the early morning hours, and taken to a local orphanage. It was discovered immediately that, one of our boys, required surgery. I got a call from our adoption agency, we were in the process of adopting our twins and they let us know there was surgery planned. This actually scared us because we had heard from several other families that adopting kids with in need of gastrointestinal (GI) surgeries had not been done right and they had made the situation worse for the kids. But they wanted to go forward with the surgery. We later found out that it was Mending Kids that came and operated on him, bringing doctors that are very knowledgeable of his special need. They’re performed a perfect surgery. Today, our son lives a very normal life. He rides horses, plays on a football team, plays on a basketball team, he’ll soon be in baseball, he does things that normal children do on a daily basis. It is extremely important that organizations like Mending Kids are doing these life changing surgeries for these children. It allows them to one day, go out into the real world one day and receive jobs and have healthy relationships. We are extremely grateful to Mending Kids for the work that they do. It not only gives these kids a better opportunity to be adopted, but to make their wait more comfortable. They’ve changed these children’s lives forever.”
We initially met Aneli three years ago at our annual Hometown Mission in Los Angeles. Aneli was born with a large, hairy nevus on her face and insurance providers were unwilling to cover the cost of Aneli’s surgery as they deemed it to be non-life threatening. Over the course of three hometown missions, Aneli received three operations. Not only are the results extraordinary, but her confidence has significantly changed.
This is the case for many children in the United States where many insurance providers consider procedures like Aneli’s to be non-like threatening and therefore will not cover the cost of their operation. Here at Mending Kids, not only do we see our patient’s physical transformations, but we see their personalities blossom because of them! |
Mending Kids is a 501(c) 3 nonprofit organization registered in California, United States of America.
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