Community Cares for Kids (CCK) is a local, grass roots organization comprised of professionals, friends, neighbors, and families who give generously of their time and talents to help children who are desperately in need of corrective surgery.    Dr. Francis Collini and wife Susan founded CCK in 2006. Since that time, Dr. Collini and a volunteer medical team have traveled annually to the poorest regions of the Third World, in particular, Ecuador, for one week every summer. With staff and all medical and surgical supplies  in tow, the team works tirelessly, around the clock, to help children with birth defects or deforming injuries. The team averages 80-100 surgeries annually.
    “Although we have helped adults, our patients are predominantly children,” said Susan. “We have taken hits for going abroad. We would love to help out locally, but it is difficult to find need. In Ecuador, a child with a cleft palette is  left to die.”
    Dr. Collini’s work with CCK is not his first effort abroad, having volunteered previously with Hands Healing Hearts, a local organization that disbanded several years ago. His desire to continue with his humanitarian efforts led the Collinis to form CCK four years ago, with the help of many.
    CCK’s first trip to Ecuador in June of 2006 was actually Dr. Collini’s tenth. Fifteen people, including doctors, nurses, translators, and aides spent a week at the Hospital Policia National Guayaquil, performing nearly 100 surgeries. In October of the same year, CCK performed its first official surgery on American soil. Little Jennifer Loor was brought to the Wyoming Valley for a surgery too complicated to perform in Ecuador.
    This year, CCK’s trip to Ecuador was reported to be the most challenging for the team, while at the same time a huge success. In the wake of a grueling 20-hour journey into remote Ecuador, a MASH-like operating room, primitive equipment, and 60 difficult operations, the committee later learned from Ecuadorian sources that all patients— including some very tiny babies— were doing well, with no infections and no fatalities.
    As is the case with most  grass roots organizations, administrative costs account for the lion’s share of the funds. But, for CCK, all internal costs are provided locally, pro bono.
    “Usually, a lot of money goes in management, but we pay nothing for administrative costs, including accounting and legal services,” Susan said. “The only real cost that we incur is for travel.”
    With a need to raise between $35,000 and $45,000 annually, CCK often receives grant  funding from sources such as Smile Train, the American Society of Plastic Surgery, and the Plastic Surgery Education Foundation. In addition, the organization’s local fundraiser, Carnivale for Community Cares for Kids, is held each January. This year, the 4th Annual Masquerade Ball will be held on Saturday, January 23rd, 2010, at The Highlands at Newberry Estate, in Dallas.
    “I have worked with other organizations in the past, and I knew going in that it would be a lot of work to fundraise locally,” Susan said. “It helps to get grants, and we apply every year, but our annual local goal is $25,000.”
    “In addition, $200,000-$300,000 in needed supplies is usually donated, but we had to kick in this year,” she added. “With the economy as it is, it has been more of a struggle to get donations.”
    The greater community also gets involved with CCK. For example, in 2006, students from Dallas High School drew pictures depicting the theme, “Community Cares for Kids”, and the most outstanding pieces were chosen to be included in a wall calendar for 2007. One thousand of them were printed and sold in local outlets and in the schools.
    “We are also pleased to hear when students from Dallas and Lake-Lehman choose us for their senior projects. The A.M. Pugh Benefit Horse Show also donated to us one year, and area churches have been generous,” she added.
    As a give back to its community, a portion of CCK’s funds remain local. In the past, the    organization has donated to the Wyoming Valley Children’s Association.
    In its annual Carnivale program is a statement that says it all. Based in Shavertown, CCK was formed by ordinary men and women and small businesses to show that individuals can make a difference— and that friends and neighbors
working together is the best medicine for hearts and souls.
    For more information about CCK or Carnivale 2010, visit www.communitycaresforkids.com.

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