Be a Hero

A New Support Group that Helps Special Kids Holds its Kick Off Luncheon on April 19 at Michy’s

It’s so easy to become part of the Circle of Heroes and it means so much to sick children around the world. For a pledge of $1200 a year for five years — that’s just $100 a month or $25 a week — you can become a member of the International Kids Fund (IKF) Circle of Heroes.

This newly formed support group will raise funds that will go directly to life-saving care for children in the IKF program. IKF, a part of the Jackson Memorial Foundation, provides medical care to needy children primarily from Latin American and the Caribbean who can’t be treated in their home countries or don’t have the necessary funds for treatment. These children receive the best possible care at the Holtz Children’s Hospital at the University of Miami/Jackson Memorial Medical Center.

Here are two IKF success stories that will tug at your heart. There will be more success stories in the next five years if you donate only $25 a week. Help us rewrite a story of sadness, sickness and fear into a tale with a happy ending. Do what heroes do: Save a life. How can you say no?

Marlie Casseus, a Haitian teenager who suffered from a painful and disfiguring Polyostotic Fibrous Dysplasia that began growing on her face when she was 4 years old. When Marlie came to IKF the mass weighed 16 pounds and had almost completely obliterated her facial features. After a series of surgeries, Marlie is now on her road to living a normal life. She is back in Haiti awaiting the final phases of her reconstructive surgeries.

Agam Ben-Old was born with extreme short gut and Advanced Cholestasis and could only be fed through a tube. Agam needed a highly sophisticated multi-visceral transplant that was not available in his home country of Israel. Her parents traveled halfway around the world to bring her to Holtz Children’s Hospital where a skilled team of surgeons performed the multi-organ transplant and saved her life, allowing her to live a normal life back in Israel.

The Kick-off luncheon, being chaired by Mariana Martinez, will be held at Michy’s Restaurant on Thursday April 19 at noon. Michy’s is located at 6927 Biscayne Blvd. There will be intimate seating of tables of four or six persons. If you are interested in joining the IKF Circle of Heroes and attending the lunch, please call Chi Wong at 305-585-1137.