Help Medical Mission raises US$25,000

Help Jamaica Medical Mission, the New Jersey-based non-profit organisation that undertakes medical missions to Jamaica, raised some US$25,000 at its recent award and fundraising gala, which will be used to offset some of the costs for next year’s medical mission.

Dr Robert Blake, head of Help Jamaica Medical Mission, disclosed the association’s fundraising haul.

Speaking at the black-tie fundraising event, which was held recently in New Jersey, Clarke told the nearly 400 people present that it was costly to undertake medical missions to Jamaica and asked those in attendance to contribute to help make the missions a success.

“We go to remote areas in Jamaica to provide medical assistance and without your contributions we would have to scale back the missions and see less Jamaicans who are in need of such treatment,” he told the crowd.

He underscored the challenges in raising funds to underwrite such missions, and said the contributions made by the public go a long way to offset some of the costs.

The black-tie awards and fundraising event is one of three major fundraising activities undertaken by Help Jamaica Medical Mission to raise funds to help with the costs of the missions.

Speaking about the medical mission undertaken in September this year, Clarke pointed out that during the mission patients in their 20s and 30s with chronic kidney disease were seen and treated by members of the mission.

Educational outreach

However, he pointed out that members of the mission not only treat patients with illnesses, but undertake educational outreach to allow people to better manage their health issues.

“To be able to do what we do takes funding and we have to rely on members of the public to assist us in this undertaking,” he said.

Alsion Wilson, Jamaica’s consul general to New York, who was the guest speaker at the event, underscored the importance of having medical missions visit Jamaica to do what they do.

“Since its establishment in January 2010, the Help Ja MM team has made yearly visits to our beautiful island-nation Jamaica, in order to provide free quality health care to those who, otherwise, would not have had the means to access this care. This is in addition to the free health services provided to under-served members of our community in the state of New Jersey,” she said.

Wilson added that, while the mission unavoidably took a three-year break, like the Phoenix, it rose again even stronger than before with a renewed fervor towards the achievement of their vision and goals. This passion and unbreakable spirit of volunteerism have seen to almost 500,000 Jamaicans receiving medical attention, in the form of life-altering surgeries, provision of medication and equipment, screening for diabetes, sexually transmitted infections, sickle cell, some forms of cancer, diseases of the prostate, mental-health issues, and for various types of heart diseases.

“Since my appointment to serve as Jamaica’s consul general in New York, I wish to highlight that my team and I have worked closely with Dr Clarke, who, I must say, has never been unwilling to give a helping hand. Can I just say that when I called Dr Clarke to explain to him my idea of deploying a medical mission to Jamaica during the COVID-19 pandemic, it was an immediate ‘yes’. The team of organisers, which included Dr Clarke, members of the Jah Jah Foundation, the Jamaica Diaspora Northeast USA, and in collaboration with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Foreign Trade and the Ministry of Health and Wellness, were able to mobilise a group of over 80 volunteers who so ably assisted our over-burdened health care workers in Jamaica, from October to December of 2021,” said the consul general.

Beacon of light

She said she was equally pleased to share that Dr Clarke and his tremendous team were instrumental, during the COVID-19 pandemic, in assisting our fellow Jamaicans who found themselves stranded in the United States, with filling their prescriptions. Despite the dark times brought on by the pandemic, this remarkable organisation remained a beacon of light, helping to guide our nationals home.

“I cannot overemphasise the amazing work that Dr Clarke and his team have been doing. Did you know that the consulate general of Jamaica in New York coordinated the donation of 26 oxygen concentrators in November of last year to bolster Jamaica’s medical sector? Dr Clarke, the generous man that he is, was able to donate one of these concentrators to us,” she pointed out.

An oxygen concentrator is a type of medical device that you might use as part of oxygen therapy

Five people were presented with awards at the function. They were Dr Andrew Baddoo, Dr Mercy Otieno, Lucy Ankrah, Sonia Goodrich and Patrick Reid.

editorial@gleanerjm.com