Recently I (Amber) was inspired by a couple of moving stories in our office of families in need of care who could not afford to pay for it. It got me thinking about what I could do to help. One case was particularly close to my heart – it was my own family member - so I decided to pay for some of his care. I do not tell you this to brag but to demonstrate how desperately he needed Chiropractic care and how positive I was that it would help him recover. I knew it was the most important treatment his body needed at the time. I soon realized that I was not able to pay for his care for very long as my budget was stretched already. Then inspiration hit me! If I was in this situation with my family member, and Patient A (the other story that inspired me) was in the same situation with her friend, Patient B, then there must be more people willing to open their pocket books to help out friends and family in need of care. Thus, the Chiropractic Cares Program was born.
I know I am not the only person who believes that no one should have to walk around with a subluxated spine just because they can’t afford to be adjusted. I also know that I am not the only one who believes in the power of the body to heal itself when interferences to the nervous system are removed by a Chiropractor. I hear amazing Chiropractic success stories every day; if you are still reading this then you might have one of your own. My vision is to have a steady stream of support coming in from our patients so that we can extend the gift of health and vitality to those who need it but can’t afford it. Every day we do our best at Family First Chiropractic to help as many people as we can, but just like me, who can’t afford to cover the entire cost of care for my family member, neither can a lot of you and neither can we expect the office to cover the entire cost and still stay in business to serve us. But if we all join together, we can make a difference and no one has to carry the cost of another’s care on their own. They say it takes a village to raise a child, this is my concept at well. If we, as a community of chiropractic patients, pool our resources, we can give the opportunity to those who are less fortunate than us to join our family.
So how will this work? While I will gladly accept cash donations, I realize that not everyone can afford to donate cash all the time. I also realize that since I can’t give tax deductible receipts at this time, and there are so many other worthy causes that can, you need to donate where your heart guides you. So, it starts with this - thank you cards. If you have referred friends or family to Family First Chiropractic before, than you know that we send out thank you cards. The thank you card, as stated inside, is good for one complimentary adjustment for yourself or for one complimentary new patient appointment for you to pass along to someone else. A lot of people don’t need a free adjustment because either they have insurance or can afford to pay for their care. It is as easy as donating your thank you cards to the Chiropractic Cares Program so that we can pass it along to someone who really needs it.
The second way we can raise money to jump start this program is our annual Christmas party. Doctors Jason and Danella have agreed that all of the donations for the adjustments at our Christmas party this year will go to the Chiropractic Cares Program. So make sure you book an appointment for our Christmas party to get your Pre-Christmas adjustment.
The third way is - I want to hear from you. If you are as passionate about Chiropractic as I am and want to see more people benefit from Chiropractic care then let me know if you have any creative ideas, time or expertise to offer. This is a brand new idea with nothing like it in Canada and I’m new to starting a charity, so I will take any help I can get. Please come and talk to me if you have something to contribute.
Be on the lookout for future opportunities to donate. I hope to have some creative products and events to offer to raise money. The next time you come into the office you will see a big thermometer on the wall that I will use to track our donations. There will also be a box for you to put your thank you cards and other donations in. Once we have enough money to actually start providing care, there will be an application procedure put in place to help determine who qualifies for support. I envision using this money not only to bring in new patients who otherwise can’t start care but also to help our existing patients when they experience financial setbacks. So I leave you with this, if tomorrow you woke up and you lost your job and your benefits and you walked out your front door and slipped on the ice…
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