Be Cool – Give to Bicol (Clinic Foundation) – and Catch a Free Concert in South Florida
Posted by LauraRatcliff on Dec 15th, 2010 in Health and Exercise, Helping Others, Home, Kids, Love | 3 comments
It’s true. This blog post is a straight up appeal. I met a fascinating man last week. His name is Dr. Mitchell Schuster. He is a man on a mission. He wants to save the world. Well, we all know that one person can’t do all that, can they? Probably not, but they can give it a Hell of a try. Dr. Schuster has been working on it for decades, and now things are starting to come together in a really great way.
Five years ago, he and his family and an ardent group of supporters founded the Bicol Clinic Foundation, (pronounced bee-col) named for a Peninsular region on Luzon Island in the Philippines, where Dr. Schuster’s wife is from. Dr. Schuster has spent many years in rural areas of poor and underdeveloped countries, from the Philippines, to Haiti, Nepal, Somalia, and Sri Lanka, to name just a few. It’s Dr. Schuster’s mission, and now the mission of the Clinic Foundation, to bring first world medicine and medical practices to third world countries and their people.
Offering help and comfort in Somalia
While that in and of itself is a tremendous effort, there’s more. The Bicol Clinic Foundation has three major missions, the first and most ambitious of which is to eradicate tuberculosis. Not just to control and cure it, but to eradicate it completely. TB is one of the most vicious diseases known to man, and one of the most virulent. Resistant strains make treating it more and more challenging, so it’s imperative to catch the disease early. One of the main reasons that TB infection rates are continuing to rise in third world countries is not because there’s no medicine to treat it – it’s because the people in these regions and areas don’t have access to the most basic health care that most of us take for granted. Often, by the time the TB is diagnosed, the case is advanced, and many other people have already been unknowingly infected by the person who is sick. Many times, it’s impossible for people to get to clinics to seek medical help because they live in remote villages hundreds of miles away from any type of medical facilities. BCF plans to bring tuberculosis diagnosis and treatment to the people, by utilizing specially equipped vans that can traverse difficult terrain and travel from village to village offering high-tech help to people who need it the most.
The Clinic Foundation sent a disaster relief team to Sri Lanka when the Tsunami hit.
The BCF also heads up a disaster relief team, which has been on almost more missions than they can count. They’ve been to Haiti three times this year, offering relief to earthquake victims devastated by the loss of life, limb, home, family, and income. The situation in that island nation remains one of the most desperate in the world, with cholera now ravaging the tent cities where earthquake victims are housed, with tens of thousands already succumbing to the disease. The BCF wants to send a cholera van, much like the planned TB vans, to Haiti as soon as possible, to begin diagnosing and treatment immediately in order to quell the quickening spread. Traveling to devastated areas like Haiti and Somalia is where Dr. Schuster says he had to learn to practice medicine fearlessly. Now he and the foundation also aim to train young doctors to do the same. I call it the Fearless Doctor Initiative, and I think it’s one of the best ways to bring young doctors up, by taking them where they can help the neediest and the most helpless among us.
Disaster relief is exhausting, but rewarding.
Finally, and dearest to Dr. Schuster’s heart, are the plans for a clinic offering modern medicine and a fully staffed clinic facility for the people in the Bicol region of the Philippines. They estimate it’s going to cost $50,000 to construct the clinic, but they’ll still need funding to keep the clinic open to treat the patients and provide medicine.
The Foundation is working hard to move their mission forward, and they want your support. But they’re not just asking you to give. They also want to give something back. They’re putting together an amazing fundraising concert event, called “Rock ‘n The Hard Place” on February 19th in Boca Raton Florida, at the Mizner Park Amphitheater. Clarence Clemons, “The Big Man” and his band The Temple of Soul are headlining and hosting the event. Clemons has been Bruce Springsteen’s sideman and sax player for over four decades, and has a huge and loyal fan base; for good reason. If you’ve ever seen him perform, you know he gives up the goods at every performance. Also appearing is the internationally acclaimed band Ambrosia, as well as Don’t Speak, and Janina and the Deeds.
The Big Man is helping Bicol Clinic Foundation make it happen.
Here’s the best part: THE CONCERT IS FREE. FREE FREE FREE FREE FREE. That’s right, you heard it here first. Five hours of rock and roll for free. It’s going to be an incredible event, and the Bicol Clinic Foundation is hoping for your support, attendance, and hopefully, a donation from you for an amazing evening’s worth of entertainment. There will be food, drink, lots of cool auctions to benefit the Foundation, and you can even buy a tee shirt to remember the concert by.
If for some reason you can’t attend the concert (because you live in Canada or somewhere else too far away) you can still support the Clinic’s worthy efforts by going here. Every dollar makes a difference, and I can tell you that every dollar is greatly appreciated by the Clinic Foundation and the people they serve.
DISCLOSURE: I am not being paid by the Foundation for this blog post, but I have been asked to help make people aware of the foundation and its mission. I am very happy to do so.
Yay! Can’t wait! I’ve seen the Big man many times with the Boss, but even once here in Boynton Beach by himself.
Worthy cause too!
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Oooh, you’re such an inspiration. I love this blog!
This is a really great opportunity for south Florida residents to participate and learn of some methods of giving back to the world.