USA (MNN) — Thanks to the generosity of those attending the two-day Uprise Festival in Shippensburg, Pennsylvania, 15 children will receive much-needed surgery from CURE International.
CURE spoke to over 10,000 people at the concert, sharing their mission of "healing kids and proclaiming the Gospel." Using a live Skype broadcast, they introduced crowds to their CUREkids coordinator in Honduras and Carlos, a boy who recently had foot surgery to correct his condition. Festival-goers also met Jon Foreman, the lead singer of Switchfoot, in the CURE VIP tent. Foreman chatted with fans, signed autographs, and performed an acoustic set.
Through these efforts, along with with speaker Tony Nolan's commendation, CURE raised enough funding to give each of the 15 children a much-needed surgery.
In the developing world, children born with leg deformities or clubfoot are often crippled for life. While clubfoot is the world's most common congenital birth defect, affecting over 200,000 newborns each year, it is curable. Kids under the age of 2 can be cured permanently–without the trauma and dangers of surgery–by using the Ponseti Method, a casting process used to straighten the feet.
Treatments or surgery for kids in the developing world is often just not available. But since 2006, CURE has healed more than 10,000 kids of clubfoot. Click here to see kids waiting for surgery and a chance for a normal life.
