Staff WriterDuncan Tree Foundation, Inc. (DTF) will hold its second Duncan Tree Foundation Scoliosis Care Fund Cocktail Reception on Friday, November 9, 2012, from 6 p.m. – 9 p.m. at The Jamaican Consulate, 767 Third Avenue, New York, NY. This event is being rescheduled from Friday, November 2, due to mass transit issues caused by hurricane Sandy. Special guest speakers include former New York Governor, David A. Paterson, and the Honorable Herman G. LaMont, Consul General of Jamaica. Delivering the keynote address will be Dr. Kenneth Paonessa, Orthopedic Spinal Surgeon with the Norwich Orthopedic Group in Norwich, CT and Past Chairman of the Scoliosis Research Society’s Global Outreach Committee.
The Duncan Tree Foundation Scoliosis Care Fund is part of DTF’s global reach to provide medical care to the economically challenged. In its inaugural trip to Jamaica in March, 2012, the Fund arranged corrective spine surgeries for two adolescents in Jamaica with scoliosis. Two young girls underwent successful procedures at that time and are now fully recovering. Duncan Tree plans to return to Jamaica November 13-20, 2012 to help 6 more adolescents and to continue to train Jamaican doctors and health care professionals.
Scoliosis is a disease that is often hidden. It is known as a genetic abnormality, causing the spine to be unnaturally rotated and curved, leading to severe pain and respiratory complications for more than 12 million people worldwide. A form called adolescent scoliosis is most common in Jamaica, affecting children between the ages of 10 and 16. The most efficient and effective method of correcting the effects of scoliosis is through spine surgery, ideally before the child reaches 18, to avoid permanent disfigurement and lifethreatening complications. But for most adolescents in Jamaica with scoliosis, this operation is beyond costly. It is financially impossible.
Duncan Tree Foundation Scoliosis Care Fund will use donated funds to help support volunteer surgical teams with air fare, accommodations and ground transportation when they travel as professional volunteers to host hospitals in Jamaica and around the globe.
Helping to lead this effort will be Dr. Kenneth Paonessa, Orthopedic Spinal Surgeon with the Norwich Orthopedic Group, Norwich, CT, and past chairman of the Scoliosis Research Society Global Outreach Committee. Dr. Paonessa will team up with Duncan Tree Foundation to provide expertise as lead surgeon, along with surgeons at Kingston Public Hospital in Jamaica. Dr. Paonessa, along with his surgical team and orthopedic surgeons in Jamaica, will perform corrective spine surgery for disadvantaged children on a surgical waiting list in Jamaica. The goal is to secure more donated implants and recruit more medical volunteers to assist in performing 12-25 additional surgeries, and conduct several CME lectures by the end of 2013.
In addition to featured guest speakers, the Benefit will also feature a special video presentation by Dr. Oheneba Boachie-Adjei, Chief of the Scoliosis Service, Hospital for Special Surgery and founder of FOCOS (Foundation of Orthopedics and Complex Spine), an international health and humanitarian aid foundation. Dr. Boachie also lead the first Duncan Tree Scoliosis Care Fund medical team in March, 2012. His presentation will be an update of the work he and his team performed.
Medtronic, Biotronics, American Airlines, Dr. Answorth Allen Hospital for Special Surgery and Caribbean Food Delight are our corporate sponsors. Tickets for the Cocktail Reception are $150 for individuals, and $500, $750, $1,000, $1,500, $2,000 and $3,000 for corporate sponsors. Duncan Tree will be auctioning off two (2) round trip tickets to the Caribbean on American Airlines during the event (terms and conditions apply). To purchase tickets and to learn more about DTF, visit www.duncantreefoundation.org/scoliosisCareFund-110212.html. Or contact Ouida Duncan at [email protected].
Duncan Tree Foundation, Inc., is a 501(c)(3) tax-deductible public charity. We are an international outreach organization dedicated to promoting health by:
Providing education to communities about strategies for preventing, reducing and treating non-communicable diseases
Recruiting medical professionals from around the globe to increase medical training in developing countries
Securing medical equipment donations for developing countries to help underresourced health care systems
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