Giving Tuesday: Peconic Bay Medical Team Raising Funds for Mission Trip to El Salvador

RIVERHEAD, NY — Just in time for Giving Tuesday, a team from Peconic Bay Medical Center in Riverhead is raising funds for a medical mission trip to El Savador.

And the team has turned to crowdfunding to help raise needed funds for their journey of hope.

Dr. Agostino Cervone and a team including Cynthia Cichanowicz and Amy Douglas Smith, as well as nurses and possibly a resident, will be spending a week performing surgeries for underserved people who could otherwise not access or afford the medical care they need

"Having been on one of these mission trips in the past, I find it one of the most gratifying experiences as a surgeon," Cervone said. "Being able to change someone's life for the good has got to be one of the best feelings. A main goal is to be able to provide surgical aid for people who would otherwise not have access to it. The appreciation is awesome and becomes a driver to continue with the next mission trip."

The surgeries will take place at the David V. King Medical Center in Jucuapa, El Salvador, team member said.

The team will travel to El Salvador from January 14 to January 22 under the auspices of Medical Mission International. Since its opening in 2011, the King Medical Center has served over 45,000 patient services.

According to the Medical Mission International's website: "Medical Mission International was founded to provide immediate medical and surgical care to people in under-served regions of the world who have limited access to health care services, particularly to women and children. We believe that quality medical care is a catalyst for economic development and breaking the cycle of poverty."

The team is fundraising on Crowdrise.com, and has so far raised $3,179.

The trip will include pre-op assessments, with surgeries performed Monday through Friday.

Funds raised will be used to pay for flights, the extra expense of bringing medical equipment, and food for the team.

Cichanowicz's page on the Crowdrise site asks individuals to help with the life-altering journey.

"As a nurse we are going to be there when people are born, and when a lot of people die. In most every culture, such moments are regarded as sacred and private. In medicine not only are we welcomed, but personally invited....truly what an honor that is," she wrote.

In February, 2010, she wrote, "I took a leap of faith with the University of Miami and went on a mission trip to Haiti to help out with the devastating aftermath of the earthquake. The destruction and despair that I witnessed in an already impoverished country was truly eye opening, but the gratitude we received from the people was truly amazing. It was a life changing event and I feel truly privileged to be going on another mission. I'm reaching out to everyone I know to help me raise $1,800 to help pay for the travel and in country costs of our team. Any amount you can give is amazing and so appreciated. To help raise money to cover the cost the trip just click here."

Cichanowicz, who said she is always looking to volunteer, is a nurse practitioner, and at the time, she worked for a hematology/oncology practice and was able to take the time to travel to Haiti. Today, she works for an anesthesia and pain management group that is also supportive of the mission work; members of that group have participated in another such mission called Blanca's House.

Cichanowicz said her first mission trip was a natural step, after the earthquake in Haiti.

"As I was sitting home crying and watching Andersen Cooper and reading a nursing journal I had just received, I felt compelled to help in any way. It was a Friday and I saw an email address to the University of Miami's Project Medishare, that they were headed down."

She filled out the application online and "honestly forgot about it," she said. "They stated the conditions were bad and that they were very specific in who they would take; I would likely get a call in two to three months. Well, less than 24 hours later I got that call and in 72 hours I was on a plane to Miami, then private charter to Port-au-Prince."

Although she had young children who were only two, five and nine, and her husband had to keep things running smoothly at home, Cichanowicz said she received an outpouring of support from her family and the community and was able to head out in three days.

"That was truly a life changing experience and I have always wanted to do another. In nursing, we are constantly pulled in that direction. We have a 'servant's heart,' I suppose. "