Dear Friends and Family,

I am headed to Africa to give back!!! My current life adventure has gifted me with a wonderful career as a Pediatric Registered Nurse, where I currently work at Rady Children's Hospital, in San Diego as a recovery room nurse for kids. This upcoming spring I have been presented with the opportunity to  incorporate my passion for travel, with my professional career helping others in Malawi Africa!!

On May 2nd, 2014 I will be teaming up with ConnectMed International, a non-profit organization providing reconstructive surgeries to children and adults around the world who suffer from deformities and disfiguring injuries. I will travel with a small 10 member crew to take on the challenge of providing free general mom/baby surgeries to repair cleft palates and other surgical necessities in the upcoming “Malawi N' May Medical Mission 2014." 

I am writing this letter to request your financial support. I have set a personal fundraising target goal of $1,500 based on the nonprofit ConnectMed International company's set fees for volunteer participation. For more information on the  company I am teaming up with, please copy and paste this website in your browser :  http://www.connectmed.org/

 I will be heading to Lilongwe, Malawi in eastern Africa. I will be 1 of only 3 specialized recovery room nurses for kids. I am volunteering my time and services to participate in this mission trip and I will be taking time off work unpaid.

 My patients will walk for days to have a chance for surgery to repair cleft palates, which if left unrepaired, most likely will result in  feeding problems, malnutrition, hearing loss, dental problems, speech problems, as well as the negative social stigma directed to infants, kids and adults. All patients stay overnight because of difficult traveling conditions, some stay 3-4 nights. My position as a pediatric recovery room nurse will be to ensure patients coming out of surgery recover and maintain a stable condition. Discharge teaching will be incredibly important and we have recruited some eager university students from the biblical college to translate for our families. This experience will undoubtedly create a moment in time so profound for each of our patients, when for the first time in some of their lives they can live a life less stigmatized. My personal mission is to support the disadvantaged children and citizens of these remote and under-served communities of Lilongwe Malawi in a way that provides the best care in their environment, as equal to that of someone who may receive the same procedure in the US.

You can help! With your support, I may join this operation and give the gift of free health care to those in need. ANY CONTRIBUTION is most welcomed and it will all add up to greatness and make a difference in someones life!  I greatly value your time and interest in this medical mission. Your donation covers cost of medical equipment we will bring with us to build a Surgery Center from the ground up, lodging for patients and hospital staffing.

My deadline for collecting donations is February 1st 2014. You can donate by 3 different methods depending on your preference to claim this donation on your taxes, as ConnectMed International is a non profit organization.

1.) If you do not care to make a tax deduction from your donation, feel free to pay by credit card using the secure PayPal account. Visit the fundraiser website http://malawiNmaymedicalmission.blogspot.com and click on the donate button in the right hand corner.  You do not need to have a PayPal account to pay with credit card, just search the bottom of the PayPal site and click on Continue without a PayPal account

2.) Send a check payable to Julie Costa. The last day to mail check would be by January 15th 2014.

3.) If you prefer to claim your tax donation, you may make checks payable to:
ConnectMed International.
Please include my name(Julie Costa's Sponsorship)  in the memo line of the check to assure your donating personally to me.

Mail check to:
Sherry Colburn (Executive Director)
ConnectMed International
15741 Seabolt Pl, Addison, Tx 75001

 If you would like to pay by credit card, you may call Sherry Colburn's personal cell with a credit card number at 214-534-3252.  She will email or mail receipts to each person for taxes.  If anyone has any questions you can give her a  call at the number listed.


Thank you so much for being willing to help! I will not be able to make this happen without you!

Sincerely,
Julie Costa

For more information on Cleft Palates see this website for a general understanding.
http://kidshealth.org/kid/health_problems/birth_defect/cleft_lip_palate.html#