When I was a child, I had a friend with a cleft palate. Not only
was it hard for her to chew because her teeth didn’t meet, but she
suffered through endless taunts flung at her for the deformity of
her mouth. Her family couldn’t afford health insurance. When she
was 8, a miraculous thing happened
– her family went to a screening clinic and discovered she
qualified for medical treatment at a Shriners Hospital for
Children. Not only that, but the entire treatment was absolutely
free.
When I was a child, I had a friend with a cleft palate. Not only was it hard for her to chew because her teeth didn’t meet, but she suffered through endless taunts flung at her for the deformity of her mouth. Her family couldn’t afford health insurance. When she was 8, a miraculous thing happened – her family went to a screening clinic and discovered she qualified for medical treatment at a Shriners Hospital for Children. Not only that, but the entire treatment was absolutely free.
After that, she was never the same again. She grew into a confident young lady with a gorgeous smile, and today she is raising a healthy family of her own.
That’s why local San Benito Shrine Club members are making an appeal for help. Local Shriners told me how frustrating it has been to hold free clinics for finding children like my friend who are most in need help. The annual clinic in Hollister has had as few as eight children come to the screening to apply for the benefit of this free care.
“We need to get the word out, especially to families who don’t have access to medical benefits,” Morgan Hill Shriner Warren Blakley said.
The San Benito Shrine Club, which also serves south Santa Clara County, is holding a clinic to find children, who may be eligible for treatment if it is determined that their particular condition would benefit from the specialized care available at Shriners Hospitals.
“Shriners Hospitals is a one-of-a-kind international health care system which provides very unique specialized care for children who have orthopedic conditions, burn injuries, spinal cord injuries, or cleft lip and palate,” said Tom D’Esmond, a Shriners Hospital administrator. “And what’s really unique about this is that it’s provided at no charge.”
The first patient to be admitted to a Shriners Hospital was a little girl in 1922 with a clubfoot, who had learned to walk on the top of her foot rather than the sole. Since that time, approximately 835,000 children have been treated at 22 Shriners Hospitals located throughout the United States, Canada and Mexico. Surgical techniques developed in Shriners Hospitals have become standard in the orthopedic world. Thousands of children have been fitted with arm and leg braces and artificial limbs made by the hospitals’ expert technicians.
Shriners are members of the Masons – the world’s oldest fraternity – who share the same commitment to community service but are distinguished by their particularly buoyant approach. They enjoy parades, trips, dances, dinners, sporting events and social occasions. You might say the Shriners put the fun in philanthropy. For instance, if you need a clown for your fundraiser, you might want to contact a Shriner.
Santa Clara and San Benito counties’ residents are treated at the Sacramento Shriners Hospital, a seven-story facility near U.C. Davis Hospital. Although it’s huge on the outside, everything inside is scaled in size for kids. It contains a state-of-the-art prosthetics department and burn unit, as well as a trauma department prepared for a catastrophic event.
Our local Shriners work with children and their families, guiding them through the detailed process of getting medical care. They give many hours of their own time driving families to the hospital, as well as entertaining the children and keeping their spirits up.
One child from South County who was a burn victim continued to receive care for more than five years past the age of 18, when he had aged out treatment eligibility. But it takes a team of professionals many years to help a child recover from the emotional and physical damage of a severe burn.
“He was terribly burned in a propane accident and required many skin grafts and surgeries at different stages in his life,” Blakley explained. “So we just kept on shuttling him up there.”
No-cost screening clinic
-Hazel Hawkins Hospital, 911 Sunset Drive, Hollister
-Sept. 26, 10 a.m. to 2 p.m.
-Bring any medical information you may have on the child
-Details: Warren Blakley, 779-2471
-Contribute at shrinershq.org
