Dear Anonymous

Dear Anonymous Donor, 

I am writing to thank you for the donation you made to Children of the Americas. As you must have known, we are in the midst of our annual fundraiser, and while the days of 2015 wind down, so does the empathy for the medical needs of indigenous women and children in rural Guatemala. Somehow, and I have no idea how, you knew of the existing medical care crisis in Guatemala; the extreme lack of medical supplies, medication, operating room equipment and even simple bandages. 

Fundraiser link here

What you could not have guessed was our lagging stamina for convincing people that COTA is a worthwhile and life-changing organization that consists of an all-volunteer staff with big hearts. We fund raise all year long, but the holidays are especially demanding of our time. Competing for the donated dollar during this era of unprecedented worldwide humanitarian concerns is challenging, and emotionally draining. Many donors don't realize that the first quarter of a new year brings in very few donations for organizations like ours....holiday bills hit mailboxes and wallets tighten. Meanwhile, our medical team arrives in Guatemala on January 17th and our expenses will be at the highest level of 2016. 
 So thank you. Not only for the donation, but for boosting our spirits by showing that Children of the Americas is worthy of your hard-earned dollars. To do so anonymously is a testimony of your humble generosity. 
I hope, whoever you are, that you read this and understand that your gift was more than money to be used to help meet the health care needs of our Guatemalan patients. It was a validation of our credibility, as well as a boost of energy for continuing our efforts as we move into 2016. 

Sincerely, Children of the Americas Board

Do You Wonder?

It is one month until the Children of the Americas medical team volunteers drive to their respective airports in the early morning hours and board their flights for Guatemala. The weeks before departure will be spent planning, packing and preparing for one of the most intense seven days any of us will experience for the rest of the year following a COTA team. In-between the "three P's" we will celebrate  school festivals, American holidays and all of the transitions that come with the end of one season and the beginning of a new year.
Those of us, and there are many, who have one foot in each country find ourselves already mentally in Guatemala, but we realize that many of our donors have never traveled to the Central American country that we work in. They may wonder about some of the things that make COTA special. 
If we had a wish list of things our board would like our supporters to know, it would look something like this:
We have amazing surgeons and OR support staff. Truly. 

Our surgeons, operating room nurses, anesthesiologists and techs come from all over the United States. They are highly trained, skilled and compassionate medical professionals who give no less to our Guatemalan patients than they do to their American patients. And they do so at their own expense for no financial compensation while still meeting the needs of their practices in the states.  
Our pharmacy is fully stocked and funded by a specific anonymous donor and by COTA funds. No patient in Guatemala pays for medicine, because doing so would mean that they would go without. From antibiotics to vitamins, each prescription is prepared and every patient is individually educated in their own language. Doing this for over five thousand prescriptions in one week is logistically challenging and takes a dedicated team of translators and four pharmacists.

Children of the Americas medical supplies are carefully selected, donated and purchased so that each of our patients has what they need. These medications are already packaged and have been shipped to Guatemala. Packing all of the above came together in a big way, cheerfully and carefully, one a rainy day in September that would have dampened the spirits of a less resilient group.
Our volunteers are amazing. No question about it. Some are retired, most still work at their respective professions, and a few are in school; but for one week in Guatemala we are a unit of over 100 people who come together for a common cause. 

 Children of the Americas supporters are working miracles with their donations. 
Our donors are loyal, compassionate and altruistic. Most of them will never see the women and children that they will benefit in rural Guatemala. Our supporters trust us to use their donated dollars wisely, for the purpose that they are intended, and we do. We do so faithfully, thoroughly and professionally. 
Now that you no longer wonder how and what we do, supporting us financially is an easier decision to make, and so simply done by clicking here:

 GoodGiving Challenge Fundraiser for COTA 

Making the world a healthier place is a great way to celebrate the holidays. 

 

The Number Five

 Five dollars doesn't buy much. If you remember a time when it did, you are showing your age. Fifty dollars will get a steak dinner for two, with wine, or a night out at the movies with pizza. Five hundred dollars finishes up most people's Christmas list, with a little to spare. Five thousand dollars? It is hard to imagine what our readers could do with that amount of green paper rectangles. With five thousand dollars, you are halfway to a new car, or better yet, departing for a cruise. 
At Children of the Americas, we look at money a little differently. We view financial donations through the eyes of our Guatemalan patients and the possibilities that exist for them if we have available funding. Patients like Angel, who came to the states through Children of the Americas and left healthier and happier than he had been in years. 

This is what Angel's dental x-rays looked like when we first encountered him as a patient in our dental clinic. The victim of a robbery in Central America, Angel had been shot in the face and the bullet penetrated his lower jaw, exiting via his cheek. Without funds for medical care, Angel suffered for years, and was only able to find a Guatemalan dentist who agreed to wire his teeth into his jaw. For two years Angel subsisted on liquids and hope that access to surgery to rebuild his jaw would somehow become available. By the time he found his way to a Children of the Americas team in Guatemala, Angel's teeth were floating in his gums, held in place by wires that were embedded in his mouth.

Getting this fourteen year old to KY for donated surgery, finding him a foster home (thank you Teresa and Ed Tackett!) and arranging donated OR time, oral surgery and dental bridges took funds we had to raise, hope we had to muster and bravery on the part of a homesick but determined teenager. The team of professionals who donated their time and compassion to restore Angel to health didn't think about financial compensation. Angel's Mayan mother in Guatemala had no money to thank us, but she used her gift of textile weaving to send us some hand woven "thank you cards."

With five thousand dollars, we could fund the travel costs of twenty more children like Angel; children from Guatemala who have no hope of finding surgical intervention in their own country and who have COTA professionals waiting here to help. 
We are halfway there. 
Giving the gift of health this holiday season has never been easier. The GoodGiving campaign runs for a few more weeks. Clicking on the link below allows you to be part of a future miracle. 

COTA Fundraiser