PRESIDENT'S CORNER
Dear Member,
Thanks to your support, DOCARE has successfully completed 8 of its 10 scheduled missions this year - reaching thousands of men, women and children in need of care. Reports from our 2 most recent missions – led by Stan Grogg, DO to Nicaragua and Ken Root, DO to Malawi – have been very positive. Look for pictures and stories posted on our website and Facebook in the weeks ahead to see firsthand how your DOCARE makes a difference. Our last 2 scheduled missions at this time are Guatemala (June 11 – 20) and Peru (August 2 – 16). We continue to work on scheduling a Haiti mission and will keep you posted.
We were very pleased to be able to provide, for the first time ever, MAP International Travel Packs for each mission. These packs contain thousands of dollars worth of drugs. The contents of each are customized to meet the medical needs of the region a particular mission is serving. A special “Thank You” goes out to our members who responded to our fundraising effort last December to raise money specifically for purchasing MAP boxes!
The Board undertook a day-long strategic planning retreat in March. We are committed to doing all we can to provide medical care to those in need. And, with the support of our members and student chapters we continue to grow in our outreach efforts. As one of its top priorities, the Board has decided its time to begin exploring the establishment of a permanent clinic site. This would not replace our missions to the many countries we now serve but would be in addition - allowing us to provide more frequent, continuous care to an area in need. We are excited about the possibilities. What a long way we have come since that first DOCARE meeting 50 years ago!
Again, thank you for all your support. I hope to see you on a mission soon.
Sincerely,
James W. Cole, DO
DOCARE President