“Wines for Medicines”

You do not want to miss our September fund raising event! On Saturday evening, September 26, The CareNow Foundation’s Wines for Medicines Wine Tasting Event and Soiree will be an evening to remember. George and Debra Tash, owners of the exotic Eden Gardens in Moorpark, have donated the use of their gorgeous property to host the gala. Guests will enjoy an elegant evening of wine tasting and gourmet appetizers catered by Command Performance and TIFA Chocolates. There will be raffle prizes and a chance to bid on a trip to Wine Country! Dance under the stars to live music by Santa Rosa. All of this in the unique setting of lush gardens, waterfalls, and dazzling beauty.

Sponsors for the event include Four Sisters Ranch Winery, Ventura Limoncello, TIFA Chocolate and Gelato, Command Performance Catering, Tanya’s Party Rentals, Number Crunchers and Bent…on Coffee and Wine, among others.

Susan Hundshamer, RN and CareNow Board member, will be on hand to speak about her experiences working as a nurse in rural Africa, highlighting the great need for even the most basic medicines. This memorable event is from 6 to 9 pm and guests must RSVP by September 19th. Tickets are $50 for wine tasting, appetizers, chocolates, entertainment and one free raffle ticket. Tickets are available without wine for $40. Additional raffle tickets may be purchased at the event. Register online or contact the CareNow office for tickets.

CareNow Announces Partnership with the Karero Clinic!

Karero is located in an extremely remote part of Kenya, near the Tanzanian border. In 2000, Moses Pulei and Jeff Spainhour developed Staff of Hope, a Christian charity in Southern Kenya and Northern Tanzania. Their primary goal was to help the Maasai people develop self-reliance by drilling water wells, building schools and medical clinics, and providing micro financing to individuals and small groups of women.

Staff of Hope opened a medical dispensary at Karero in 2008. They worked with doctors from Hoag Memorial Hospital in Newport Beach and the Christian Health Association of Kenya, as well as the East Africa Partnership to set up the clinic. CareNow is going to support the salary of a Maasai Nurse and Lab Tech at the new clinic. Some of our CareNow board members will be visiting the clinic in late October.

1000 Hills Clinic Numbers on the Increase

CareNow is a supporter of 1000 Hills Community Helpers. 1000 Hills is an organization directed and founded by Dawn Leppan, whose mission is “dedicated and compassionate service to the people of the Valley of 1000 Hills.” This organization provides daily medical clinics and serves up to a 1000 meals a day Monday-Friday to the people of this region. There is a settlement that was formed recently in the 1000 Hills area where Dawn tells us that eighty percent of the people there are sick, and probably 70 percent of them are HIV positive. They do not have working plumbing, and this past winter has been very cold.

According the national government, South Africa is now officially partaking in global recession. This makes all help vitally important to those who are not able to provide for themselves. It is impossible for a single organization to help everyone, but we can help our neighbors who can continue to help their neighbors. If we do this, we have then helped a nation. To help a nation, we need and rely on all the support of individuals like you.

Second Annual Walking4Africa Event Set for November 15th

Grab your sneakers and your enthusiasm because The CareNow Foundation’s second annual Walk for Africa is right around the corner! This second-annual fundraiser – coordinated by CareNow volunteers Susan Hundshamer and Helen Ho – takes participants on a scenic, five-kilometer route through the Santa Monica coast in efforts to support CareNow’s five medical clinics in Africa. What better way to actively support CareNow’s endeavors than to get active, get fit, and get walkin’?

The walk will be held on Saturday, November 15th, 2009, and walkers will convene at Crescent Bay Park – just off of Ocean Avenue and parallel to the Pacific Ocean. The park acts as a starting location for the event which kicks off at 8:30 in the morning. At every point on the course walkers will be able to enjoy beautiful ocean views! And for those who are concerned about dehydration, fear not! Water stations will be evenly spaced out on the course to keep walkers hydrated and healthy. Each station will represent one of the clinics that CareNow supports overseas. All registrants will also receive custom Walk for Africa T-shirts to wear during the walk and show their support! But don’t wait to register: the registration fee is $30 for all who sign up on or before October 25th; latecomers pay $35. Those interested can also register at the upcoming September 26th wine tasting at Eden Gardens in Moorpark. Join the cause today and help us provide healthcare for the world’s least served.

To register for this event click Walking4Africa

The CareNow Foundation welcomes two new members to the Board of Directors, Samuel Thomas and Susan Hundshamer.

Samuel Thomas, of CURE Pharmaceutical, hails from Lagos, Nigeria, having come to the United States at the age of 21 for his studies. While originally fascinated with medicine, Samuel soon discovered his calling in chemistry within a semester in the States and now serves as an Analytical Chemistry Advisor for CURE Pharmaceutical, a company committed to bringing pharmaceutical drugs to developing countries. Attending a single CareNow fundraiser piqued his interest in the foundation, and he was instantly drawn to the CareNow mission. He reveals that “joining the board was an easy decision” because of his personal ties to Africa as well as his investment in his pharmaceutical career. With over 22 years of experience in the pharmaceutical industry, he brings both a professional and personal drive to his career and CareNow, which he hopes to continue as a board member to fulfill a “lifelong dream [to] contribute to the well-being of the people of Africa.”

Susan Hundshamer, R.N., joins the CareNow board after spending five years overseas in Zambia, Africa as a medical missionary. She graduated from Azusa Pacific University, pursuing a nursing degree with a passion for healthcare and the regions where it was needed the most. Inspired by both negative and positive experiences as a patient herself with “multiple medical problems,” Susan felt a calling to “influence the profession [of nursing] and infuse it with loving medical care.” She took her practices overseas to Zambia, where healthcare was a privilege and most citizens were left forgotten and unaided, and with the help of CareNow, set up and ran a clinic where her skills directly benefited locals in need. Susan discovered CareNow through her mother and believed she could become a part of the mission of providing healthcare to the world’s least served. Now back in the States, Susan is an Emergency Room nurse in Los Angeles, and hopes to earn her Masters in Nursing Science and eventually return to Africa to continue her dedication to global health.