Mending Kids Provides Free Life-Changing Surgeries To 18 Local And International Children Saturday, July 20th

LOS ANGELES, July 18, 2013 /PRNewswire/ -- Mending Kids International (MKI) is excited to host its first Hometown Mission Saturday, July 20. 18 children, from six months to 18 years, will receive free, life-altering surgeries for hand and ear deformities, cysts, lumps and other outpatient procedures from a team of eight volunteer surgeons led by Andrew Freedman, M.D. The patients include eight Americans from the Los Angeles area, and children from Ethiopia, Kenya, Nicaragua, Christmas Island, Ghana, El Salvador and Guatemala. These children's lives will be changed forever thanks to private donations that have funded this mission, from travel costs to hospital expenses. MKI Host Families make certain that the living arrangements and emotional needs are provided for the kids, who are largely from small villages.

Access to medical care is difficult for families around the world and here in the United States. Oftentimes, financial restrictions, lack of knowledge about public programs, or denials from government agencies prevent children from receiving needed surgery from reconstructive to more serious, all of which are transformational. "Thirty minutes in the operating room is the whole difference between a childhood of teasing and a childhood of confidence," says MKI Executive Director, Marchelle L. Sellers.

Pierre, from Los Angeles, has a large lump growing on his left ear. With tears, his mom says she has begged agencies to fund the removal. The single mother of four who works nights just to get by, says, "No one would pay because they say the lump is cosmetic. I've wanted this surgery for years and MKI was the only agency to say yes. They understand how removing this will make his childhood easier. He starts kindergarten this fall and no one will ever know he had this. It will not define him."

MKI (www.mendingkids.org.) has provided over 1,300 transformational surgeries in over 53 countries since its 2006 founding through surgical missions, surgeries and this new Hometown Mission program. Funds are raised via donations and events including MKI's November 9 Gala honoring Gene Simmons and the December 7 Four Kings & an Ace Celebrity Poker Tournament hosted by Mel Gibson and friends like Robert Downey, Jr. and Sean Penn, Kings at last year's tournament. 

Contact:
JoAnn Geffen
[email protected]
(818) 905-5511  

SOURCE Mending Kids International

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