By Rhonda Pfaffly, Referral Coordinator for Lee’s Summit Physicians Group
I’m so happy that it’s almost RED NOSE DAY! Why? Because with the purchase of a red clown nose at your local Walgreens, it can help child poverty all over the world.
Red Nose Day funds programs to help children stay safe, healthy and educated. Since 2015, they have raised nearly $150 million dollars and have impacted over 16 million children in America and around the world.
The impact of donations, taken from their website, is:
- Essential medical services for children have been 13.6 million dollars
- 146k children with water, sanitation, hygiene access
- Vaccines purchased $40.3 million dollars
- 36 million meals served
- 77,000 homeless children helped
- 967,000 children received educational resources
Wow!
I first got involved in 2015, the first Red Nose Day, while working at my previous job. My company at the time bought all of us our Red Noses, we wore them all day, took a group picture for our Facebook page and our patients loved it! Many of them also got involved after leaving our office after hearing what a great cause this was.
When I came onboard with Lee’s Summit Physician’s Group, I asked our director if we could participate. No questions were asked when I told them that it was for the children and we have participated in Red Nose Day ever since!
We have competitions between our three offices to see who can get the most red noses, take goofy pictures and again our patients love seeing our doctors wearing their noses, especially our little patients.
Be sure to check out our Facebook page, you just might see one our doc’s sporting a cute red nose. Also, watch NBC on May 23rd for the live 5th annual Special and watch the tally of your donations at work with your favorite TV stars, including Kristen Bell, Hugh Grant, Kelly Clarkson to name just a few. They will have stories that will make you cry and then cry from laughing.
Our director, Jody Brown, wrote a blog last year about her personal story of why she is passionate about this cause, and she tells about her time spent in Kenya. It’s truly an inspirational story and another example of why this cause is so important. If you have time, please check it out!
How You Can Get Involved
Red Nose Day is May 23, 2019 and noses along with pens, wristbands and pins can be purchased at your local Walgreens store. You can also purchase online at www.walgreens.com and click on the Red Nose button. They also have a Facebook page, Instagram and Twitter as well as www.rednoseday.org where you can find out more.