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Local Shriners make hefty donation

Pediatric hospitals, transportation program benefit
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Big Country Shrine Club (BCSC) president Glen Clancy

The Big Country Shrine Club passed on a significant donation to the Shriners Hospitals for Children Transportation Program recently.

Club president Glen Clancy handed over a $21,786 cheque to the potentiate at the Shriners of British Columbia and Yukon two-day Spring Ceremonial in Penticton in late May.

"We have conferences, and most of it is about looking after the new Shriners. We all go out to welcome them, and then we remember our ones who have passed on, Clancy explains.

"One of our own newest Shriners was installed at that time, and his name is Joe Hoffman."

The donation was raised at the Second Annual Shriners King Crab & Prime Rib Buffet & Auction held in 100 Mile House in April.

It will be used to support the Shriners of British Columbia and Yukon-Shriners Care for Kids to help cover capital expenditures for the improvement of their medical transportation program.

The program buses sick children, including some locally, in need of specialized care to Shriners Hospitals for Children across North America – part of a team that made medical history earlier this month.

The multidisciplinary medical team successfully transplanted donor hands and forearms onto eight-year-old Zion Harvey of Baltimore, making him the first patient to receive a pediatric hand transplant in the world.

"It was 40 surgeons over a period of 12 hours," explains Clancy. "We have a lot of cutting edge stuff going on."

More information on the Shriners hospitals and transportation program is online at www.bcshriners.com/gizeh/what_we_do.shtml. To read Zion's story, visit www.shrinersinternational.org, where it is linked under News.