Valuable Donations to Those in Need

What happens to the DAFO®s that children have outgrown or that needed a redo or major adjustment? When we receive DAFOs back from practitioners because of a redo or other issue, we donate them to organizations sending volunteer medical workers to developing countries. Although not custom casted and custom fit for children in these remote places in the world, your used or discarded braces can make a big difference.

In many cases these children with mobility challenges have had virtually no attention or support for their condition. They have attempted to move and play amongst their peers as best they can. It is always fascinating and rewarding to hear back from organizations and volunteer practitioners about their experiences with these children. Some of the donated DAFOs have ended up with children in remote parts of Chile, Mexico, Ecuador and Honduras, and in orphanages in Uzbekistan.

Most of the children treated on these short-term volunteer service trips live in poverty in communities without pediatric care. When we can we provide the volunteer practitioners with returned braces and supplies, they use their expertise to adjust the donated braces to help many children in need.

Here are just two of the stories we have heard:
In Puerta Vallarta, Mexico, volunteers with Compassion 4 Kids treated three children ages 9 through 10 with cerebral palsy who had never received any bracing support. The hand-me-down DAFOs with some on-site trimming and adjusting, provided each child with some basic bracing support. The braces made transfers easier, helped with standing or aided walking, and helped to prevent contractures allowing the children to be in appropriate upright postures.

A young girl in Honduras, a hemiplegic toe-walker, was able to walk with her foot flat once wearing an adjusted DAFO. The therapist was able to explain to the girl’s mother that with some stretching and continued orthotic wear she may not need an operation.

All of you have seen the impact of bracing on your patients. We no longer require that braces be returned to Cascade when we supply a new brace under our 90-day guaranteed fit warranty. But for those of you who end up with a collection and wonder what can be done with the unused DAFOs, please consider shipping them to Cascade. You can send them with your next cast, or as a separate shipment marked outside with “donation”. We will distribute them in large batches to organizations doing valuable service work in developing countries.

For more information about the service organizations mentioned in this article visit: www.healthcareministries.org, www.compassion4kids.org.