In recent months, we have been given opportunities to sponsor several different charity events – Relay For Life, The March of Dimes walk, Light of Hope for CASA, and the “It’s Reigning Cats and Dogs” auction that will benefit ARF.  We took the opportunities that various organizations offered for many reasons.   Sure, it’s good advertising and a lot of fun to participate in these events, but the real spirit of our donations goes much deeper than that.  I thought I’d share some of those reasons with you in anticipation of upcoming community activities and perhaps spark additional interest in them.

When we were approached and asked to become the first corporate sponsors for the 2002 Relay For Life , there was no lag time in our decision because our practice is full of cancer survivors and they touch us in ways that are inexplicable.  When I see the smile and hear the fresh sarcasm of a 12 year old leukemia survivor I am grateful that she gives me the chance to keep her nervous system clear and free of interference.  A wonderful couple who are both survivors honor us with the opportunity to take care of them.  They are in their sixties, and still as in love as they were the day they met.  When she talks about him her eyes have a sweet glow and when he talks about her, he tenderly insists on referring to her as “Mama”.  A very special and important person to Milledgeville and to the readers of this paper is a welcome sight every time she graces our office with her presence.  She smiles when she really doesn’t want to and shares big fish stories with us.  We can always count on hearing a great big unmistakable belly laugh from one man who is retired but still working hard grooming his yard to make his wife, also a survivor, happy.  A single mother who spends her mornings and afternoons riding a school bus to chaperone difficult children says we are the only doctors who listen to her and treat her like a human being.  A young woman who was terrified to see a chiropractor before she came to us is also a survivor.  Now she looks forward to her adjustments and shares with us her love for Big Mike and the Booty Papas.  More than anything, these people and their courage inspire us to be involved with Relay.

While it doesn’t get the publicity today that it once did,  March of Dimes has always spearheaded research for prevention and treatment of birth defects of all types.  My practice partner, Dr.Tracy Green, has a very special reason for supporting March of Dimes.  In 1974, her baby brother Holland was born with cerebral palsy.  With support from March of Dimes, Holland received the three surgeries that he needed in order to be able to walk.  In 1980 Holland was pictured with Mary Ann Mobley as poster child for March of Dimes and was featured on the nationally broadcast telethon.

There is a very unique individual who is a member of our practice who has a heart full of love to give a group of fortunate foster children.  She works full time, coaches basketball and track, and still finds time to devote to children who would otherwise not have loving parents.  Court Appointed Special Advocates recently held a candlelight vigil for those children who are the victims of neglect and abuse.  People who truly make a difference in the lives of these children are all around us, and they deserve our support.

As for the ARF auction, we believe that animals deserve a humane existence, and will do all that we can to support agencies who are willing to give of their time, talents, and treasure to see that this is provided for the animals of our community.

The world in which we all live is no longer an “I” world.  Helping each other is not only noble but also necessary for a functional society, and it is a spiritual truth that that which you give comes back to you many times over.  Part of the mission statement for graduates of Life University, from which Dr. Green and I graduated, is “To give, to love, and to serve out of your own abundance”.  It is our pleasure to do so, and our promise to you that if you will latch onto a cause and support it, abundance will be yours.  Treat your spirit well.