Our inaugural horse therapy program, Camp Horsin’ Around, took place on June 21-25, 2021, in Fallbrook, CA thanks to our partnership with Mustard Seed Ranch. The programincluded learning how to approach, ride & care for horses, team-building games, daily journaling, and hands-on activities for 6 kids from and around San Diego County with craniofacial differences and special needs. The goals of the activities were to strengthen the campers’ self-confidence and self-expression, interpersonal connections, and ability to cope with issues such as bullying, and awkward questions, staring or social situations.
Each day the kids got to learn more about each other, the horses, and themselves.
The campers had never ridden before and had quite a bit of hesitation (and in some cases outright nerves) around horses. However, they pushed themselves out of their comfort zones and developed close connections with their horses. It was such a treat to see their pride in themselves and confidence bloom over the week!
Special thanks to sponsors The Donegan Burns Foundation for making this camp possible!
We hope to offer more therapeutic horse programming by December 2021 – stay tuned!
Smile 4 Kids
Nurses Appreciation Week 2021 is May 6-May 12, and our Smile4Kids cause this month is NURSES & NURSING STUDENTS – recognizing, appreciating and investing in them!
We will spotlight some of the many nurses and nursing students who have volunteered with our teams and provided critical care to patients around the world .
We will share updates about the low-income nursing students from rural communities in Vietnam who have received ConnectMed scholarships to attend Hue University School of Nursing (Hue, Vietnam). With your generosity and support this month, we hope to continue this scholarship support.
Make a donation in the name of your favorite #SuperHeroNurse and we will send him/her a note of acknowledgment and a ConnectMed #OperatingWithCare mask & lanyard!
July is National Cleft and Craniofacial Awareness and Prevention Month! In honor of this special month, will you help us raise funds to help support children and young adults with craniofacial differences and special needs?