Donations sought for medical missions

Claire Kenner of Dexter is knocking on doors to raise funds to go on a medical mission Feb. 5 - 12 to Kingston, Jamaica with the Footsteps Medical Mission, Inc.

“In order to go, we have to come up with some matching funds to help get ourselves there,” Kenner said.

His fundraising is going slowly.

“For every time I get one (donation), I get rejected by three,” he said.

Kenner helped with Footsteps Medical Missions in October at the Black River Coliseum in Poplar Bluff in what he describes as the “peasant labor division.”

While many of those going are medical practitioners, “some are just like me, volunteers who want to help,” Kenner said.

Although he has a BA degree in psychology, Kenner attends Three Rivers College.

“I’m bored, so I go to college and take classes,” he said. “I’ve done a little bit of everything.”

He is an Army veteran and retired truck driver.

His life with the military goes back to his family following his dad, who served in the Army Air Corps Army Signal Corps during World War II and the Korean conflict.

When Kenner was a child in Catholic school in Lima, Peru, he was raised to be a volunteer who wants to help. His dad was stationed at the embassy in Lima.

Those were “the most wonderful years of my life,” he said. “My mother was a pediatric RN for 42 years, so she got me into the habit of doing things. I’ve been all over the world. I’ve lived in Lima, Panama City, at Fort Toby in Bangkok, Thailand, during the Korean conflict.”

Footsteps Medical Missions Inc. secretary Debbie Thrower explained, donations for the mission trip and other mission projects are accepted in a variety of ways.

Thrower is one of seven board members.

“Currently, Claire, and several of us who are going to Jamaica in February, are fundraising,” Thrower said. “The easiest way to donate is through our website. You could put his name on it. If you know someone specifically, you can give the money to them. If you don’t know anyone in particular, but you want to donate, you would go to footstepsmedicalmissions.org. There’s a button for donations on that page.”

If you don’t make donations online, call Thrower at 573-820-5562, and her email is debbiethrower@ATT.net.

To mail a donation, send it to Dr. Rick Wirz, the founder and medical director, 10942 Northview Drive, Dexter, Mo., 63841.

Since plane tickets have to be purchased, the donation deadline is Jan. 15 for the Jamaican trip, Thrower said.

“We have fundraisers for Footsteps any time we are planning a mission trip, or we have them on a regular basis, because the organization does a lot of outreach events,” Thrower said. “We went to Kentucky and took supplies three different days. We have ongoing fundraisers from time to time.”

Thrower said, “We take several doctors and nurses and then some medical people as well. We set up clinics. We have brought dentists in the past.”

Since the group has gone to Jamaica more than once, Thrower explained, “these clinics are in the mountains, where they don’t have access to medical attention. They set up clinics and people come to us and we find out what they need. We’re allowed to dispense pharmaceuticals, so we take our own medicine.”

They also get their eyes checked and “we can give them glasses,” Thrower said. “They can get hearing aids, because we’re going to be taking Diane and Larry Warren and they will bring their machines to test ears. We will able to fit them for hearing aids.”

While the team will see a broad spectrum of medical needs “we can address immediate needs, obviously,” she said, “our main goal is evangelical. Everybody gets to hear about Jesus through the first person who registered them, through every nurse. We’ll pray for them and before they leave, we make sure they know the reason we do all of this is because we’re the hands and feet of Jesus. They always have an opportunity to become Christians. We all ask point blank, do you know who Jesus is? Are you a Christian? That’s part of the process. But, ultimately we meet their needs, and we pray for them and send them on their way.”