WV Health Right Annual Fundraiser – September 25, 2010
Mark your calendar!! The date’s been set for WV Health Right’s annual dinner and auction held each year at Berry Hills Country Club. This September the clinic is celebrating its 28th year of service to the citizens of the greater Kanawha Valley and south central West Virginia. As always, it is a challenge to make the fundraiser BIGGER and BETTER than the year before — if you are interested in assisting in the planning for this event, please call Tammy at 304-414-5916.

AmeriCares
AmeriCares, an international relief organization whose passion to help is matched by an ability to deliver, is a valued WV Health Right partner. Whether it’s an epic disaster or a daily struggle, AmeriCares goes to extraordinary lengths to ensure that medicines, medical supplies, and aid reaches individuals in need wherever they are, whenever they need it.

In February AmeriCares visited WV Health Right. Following is a reprint of their online newsletter article regarding that visit:

Demand Soars at Health Clinics Serving America’s Uninsured
March 20, 2009

The recent economic downturn is swelling the ranks of the unemployed and the number of uninsured patients seeking treatment at health clinics throughout the country. That’s why AmeriCares supplies critically needed medicines and supplies to meet the demand.

All across the United States, AmeriCares helps the uninsured and underinsured by donating medicines and medical supplies to more than 150 health clinics and community health centers in more than 35 states.

One of AmeriCares partners in providing care to Americans in need is the West Virginia Health Right clinic. In the heart of Appalachia, the Clinic relies on donations from AmeriCares to meet the needs of its growing patient population. New patients are coming in at a rate of about 50 each week – almost all newly unemployed – said Executive Director Patricia Holmes White.

“Without the donations from AmeriCares the patients we serve would be forced to go without, putting their lives in grave danger. How do you put a value on a patient’s life? Our patients are our neighbors. They have families that rely on them and that love them,” White said.

“Putting their lives in jeopardy because they cannot afford a life-sustaining medication is not an option we should ever have to consider. Thanks to AmeriCares, we don’t have to make that choice.”

Over the past two years, AmeriCares provided the Health Right clinic with $2.5 million in life-saving medications – including many expensive drugs the clinic would not be able to afford to purchase.

The Health Right clinic is just one example of the more than 150 clinics AmeriCares has partnered with. From the depressed cities of Pennsylvania to the rural plains of Wyoming, Americans across the county no longer have to choose between feeding their families and taking care of their health.

Since our founding more than 25 years ago, AmeriCares has donated $137 million worth of aid to health care providers in the U.S., including medicines that relieve pain, fight infection and manage debilitating, chronic illnesses such as diabetes and asthma. As the economy slowly recovers, more families may join the more than 47 million Americans without health insurance and AmeriCares is working hard to meet the increased demand.

Army of Women
WV Health Right is proud to announce its support of a unique new program that offers women the opportunity to help unlock the key to preventing breast cancer: the Love/Avon Army of Women. The Love/Avon Army of Women is seeking to recruit one million women nationwide to help researchers learn what causes breast cancer and move beyond a cure to prevention. The Love/Avon Army of Women is a partnership between the Dr. Susan Love Research Foundation and the Avon Foundation that empowers women with a new opportunity—a simple but revolutionary call for one million women of all ages and ethnicities to join the “Army” and consider serving as research volunteers to help scientists understand the causes of breast cancer—and how to end it once and for all. To learn more about the Love/Avon Army of Women visit www.armyofwomen.org.