Let me share with you my wonderful first experience with Fresh Start. On the morning of September 13, 2008 I met
with Mimi Askew, Volunteer Coordinator for Fresh Start. I was very excited and eager to take the Surgery Weekend tour that morning. I will be a part of a team who will be volunteering their time to help surgically fix the cleft palates of children who are less fortunate and cannot afford the surgery.

The tour started with one of the volunteers coming out of the operating room, asking if anyone in the facility knew how to speak Spanish. I immediately raised my hand, not even thinking if I was really up to volunteering myself to be this volunteer’s interpreter. I was asked to immediately change into scrubs, and follow the MDs to interpret and assist in the operating room. That was the beginning of my devotion to this program!

When I met Little Miss Claudia, as I call her, she was lying down in her bed. She had a very uncertain look on her face. She had just woken up from her surgery. I started speaking to her, giving her assurance that the surgery went well, and that everything would be fine. I assured her that I would be by her side if she needed anything.

Little Miss Claudia was unable to speak prior to her surgery, due to a cleft palate. The surgery she had on that day will enable her to not only speak, but also to have a beautiful smile. Knowing that I will see her happy and smiling at future Surgery Weekends brightens my spirits, and being able to be a part of the team that helped her get to her current condition gives me an enormous amount of satisfaction!

It is an honor and such humbling public service to help children with deformities. Fresh Start enables them to live their lives like any other child, and provides the tools they need to grow into productive, confident adults. I share my story with such pride and pleasure. Thank you for giving me the opportunity to become a part of the Fresh Start family!