For Immediate Release

 

REACH Air Medical Services “Drive for Kids” Golf Tournament Presents $6,000 to North State Family on July 7, 2006
 
Drive for Kids Golf Tournament Donates Funds to North State Family

 

Redding, Calif. – July 6, 2006 – REACH Air Medical Services (REACH) is proud to present this year’s recipient of funds raised by the annual “Drive for Kids” Golf Tournament on Friday, July 7, 2006, at the Redding Convention Center in Redding, Calif.  The REACH helicopter will fly in to present a $6,000 check to this year’s recipient, Jan Geddes and her family, at 10:00 a.m. 

 

“REACH is excited to be able to participate in this wonderful event,” said REACH’s Director of Program Development Jennifer Hardcastle.  “Our goal is to raise the funds required for the purchase of specialized medical and mobility equipment so many children depend on.”

“Jan Geddes and her family of four disabled children will greatly benefit from the funds raised by Redding community members through the ‘Drive for Kids’ Golf Tournament” continued Hardcastle.   “The Geddes family includes Jan and her adopted children NattieZell, Max, Jordan, and Korin, all with special needs.”

The funds donated will help the Geddes family purchase a van which can accommodate all four of Jan Geddes's wheelchair-bound children to so they may get around in comfort and safety.    

The “Drive for Kids” Golf Tournament, a non-profit organization which raises money to support pediatric healthcare needs in the North State, will host their eighth annual fund-raiser golf tournament on September 30, 2006 at Gold Hills Golf Club in Redding, Calif. 

The “Drive for Kids” Golf committee members and flight crew will meet the family and give them a tour of the helicopter.  The "Drive for Kids" committee is grateful to the Redding community for their support of this annual golf event. 

There is still space available in the “Drive for Kids” golf tournament.  Please contact REACH at (530) 244-5192 for more information. 

 

The Redding Convention Center is located at Auditorium Drive in Redding, Calif. 

 

Also of interest to the North State community is “REACH for Life,” an emergency air ambulance membership program.  Please call us at 1-866-76-REACH for details or to join the membership program.

 

About REACH Air Medical Services:  REACH Air Medical Services (www.reachairambulance.com) is headquartered in Santa Rosa, Calif., and provides helicopter and fixed wing patient transportation for critically ill and/or injured patients from eight California base locations in addition to their service in Corvallis, Oregon.  Since REACH’s inception in 1987, the company has performed more than 30,000 air ambulance missions and has developed regional specialties in serving pediatric and neonatal patients.  REACH offers a membership program, REACH for LIFE.

 

REACH was one of the first air transport programs to be fully CAMTS accredited (www.camts.org) and has one of the most aggressive safety programs in the air ambulance industry.  REACH was the first air ambulance company to receive FAA approval to respond in low-visibility conditions using established GPS routing procedures.  REACH continues to be a leader in air ambulance safety, having installed Night Vision Goggle technology into all of its helicopter aircraft fleet.  REACH is privately owned and operated.

 

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Getting to Know Us, Getting to Know All About Us

- Jan Geddes, recipient of REACH’s “Drive for Kids” Golf Tournament Funds

How do I tell you about us in a concise way?  I am 58 years old and the mother of seven children, one by birth and six adopted with special needs.  I only had one and adopted the rest.  Then from within me I heard the Holy Spirit say “If it’s good enough for me is it good enough for you?” I said yes and then my adventure began.

That was August 15, 1979. In February, 1983 my husband and I adopted a Hmong daughter. We named her Megan. She was eleven months old at the time. Of all my children Megan is the most medically involved. She was born with a type of spina bifida, and organs external and missing. Before she was fifteen she had over 25 major surgeries and one hundred hospitalizations. I call her my boot camp because after her they are all easier. She taught me a lot of what I know medically. The happy news about Megan is that she is getting married on June 11, 2006 to a Hmong young man who she has been with for eight years.

My husband of seventeen years chose to leave us in 1993. I became an adoption specialist for Adopt America some time soon after that. I learned about all of my other children while I was advocating for this organization.

The next child to be added to my family was my sweet Korin. She was found in the sewers of Haiti.  She is quadriplegic from a left brain stroke. Her disability is classified as Cerebral Palsy, meaning something wrong with the brain.  She is also one of the happiest sweetest dispositioned persons. I got Korin when she was approximately 19 months old, but we will never know for sure whether she is even one to two and a half years older. She has been in a full inclusion class in grade school but will be in a special day class next year in Junior High.

The next child to come home was Logan. His birthday was March 15 1995. His ethnicity was half Hawaiian and half Caucasian. He has curly hair and because many of his joints were double jointed he also had curly fingers, arms and legs. He also had spina bifida, was allergic to most foods, polyester and had severe asthma due to allergic reactions to air-born stuff. He didn’t have a mean bone in his body, and at four and a half when he went home to Jesus his only word was mama. When he was put to sleep he would sing it to a tune only he knew until he went to sleep. His nick name was Baby Bear. We still miss him.

The next member of the family is Jordan.  His birthday is July 22, 1994. But he did not come to our family until he was three and a half. He is American born of Haitian descent. He has spina bifida and has no feelings below his hips.  But he can hit a baseball out into left field and shoot a bow accurately and loves to play basketball.  Jordan is mister sensitive and mister manners. He gets lots of compliments about his caring sensitive manner. In addition to his orthopedic disabilities he is also legally blind in his left eye. This may slow him down but it doesn’t stop him. He is a real treasure.

My youngest son is Max. He was found at the gates of an orphanage in India with his umbilical cord still attached.  He has spastic CP and like all of the children at home must use a wheel chair to get around. Max is in love with all cars, trucks and things that go and would talk about them endlessly if I let him. As he goes through the corridors at his school he exuberantly greets everyone and wishes them a great day.

My youngest child is NattieZell.  She is Caucasian, black and Native American. Without a doubt she is the smartest of my children. She is just finishing first grade and is reading third and fourth grade books. She has a small body (only thirty five pounds at seven) but a very big attitude. In addition, unfortunately for me she is also very cute! Keeping her on track through her teens should keep me young. I’ll be seventy-two when she turns twenty one.

The children’s bus drivers tell me that they are all good will ambassadors and social butterflies.

I have much to be grateful for in these delightful children.

 At this time we are living in a rental home and our biggest vehicle is a very beaten up fifteen passenger van.  In order to accommodate our growing wheel chairs we really need to move up into a “cab over van” which is the size of a small bus.  Any help that you can give us would be greatly appreciated. If you have any further questions please don’t hesitate to contact me.

~ Jan Geddes, Joyful Mother