New Zealand Family Project

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Wednesday, October 15, 2008

..:: New Zealand Family Project ::..

Contacts

	Name	Role	Email	Telephone	Telephone 2
	Craig M. Tumas	Gets It Done		412.690.2377

District Office.................

Rotary District 7300

ROTARY OFFICE:
District Governor
Jim Kunkelmann
kunkelj@alltel.net

Check with your club president/secretary

for complete listing on CD of all clubs

and committees in the district.

Click on the link below

Club Info

Matisse Reid's CaringBridge site

Messages from Matisse's Mom

The Reid Family is in their house. Read how YOU can still help!

THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU

The Rotary machine has kicked into action, just as I knew it would. I picked up a UHaul at 2:00pm on Saturday and spent the next 7 hours driving around Allegheny County picking stuff up for the Reid Family.

It is truly unbelieveable how many NICE things the family received.

The looks on the faces of the family were TREMENDOUS. The found their houseon Tuesday. Wednesday, I sent the initial email asking for assistance. Friday was the first day they could be in the house but they stayed at the hotel one last night because they had no beds. Saturday at 11:00am Rotarians started showing up with towels, blankets, cookware, dishware, linens, irons, ironing boards, phones, TVs, and then the UHaul made it first stop at the house!! SIX BEDS, a dining room table that seats six (with 6 chairs), sideboard, hutch, tables, lamps, sweepers, even a Nordic Track Skiier!!You can imagine how grateful the family to see the transition that Rotary provided.

ONGOING: If you or your club would still like to make a donation, there's still a need for things to make their house a home for the next 18 months. Gift Certificates are best and the family has quickly taken a liking to IKEA, Bed Bath and Beyond and Home Depot.

Please mail your gift certificates to:

Wayne and Jodee Reid

184 Lori Rd.

Gibsonia, PA 15044

Thanks again for all your help! I'll update with the status of the little girl as time progresses and things happen!!

Here's the webpage containing pictures of the family, stories of Matisse's condition, and a journal that Jodee writes in weekly to update family and friends around the world. www.caringbridge.org/visit/matissereid.

Craig Tumas

Pittsburgh Club

cmtumas@yahoo.com

New Zealand child needs your help.

The District needs help finding accommodations for a family from New Zealand. Their 5-year-old daughter Matisse will undergo transplant surgery at UPMC. Call (412) 793-0153 for details if you have any ideas or prospects.

I am past District Governor from District 9920 in Auckland, New Zealand, and head a group that has funded and sent more than 20 children from New Zealand to Australia for transplants. Rotarians were able to help in the Australian cities.

Now, another New Zealand family, the Reids, need to travel to Pittsburgh so their daughter can have a small-bowel and liver transplant. The operation and recovery is very prolonged and she will need to be in the US for likely in excess of 12 months.

The Reids have four children. Given what they are going through, it is of course important they stay together as a family.

The New Zealand government is funding the operation and the travel cost for the child only. The family is fund-raising to attempt to pay for the rest. Rotary could help them find accommodations and a local school, help them get acclimated the area, provide them with support to help them during the ordeal. The father would also like to work in Pittsburgh so he can support his family. He is a qualified builder and would need a sponsor to have any chance of obtaining a green card.

We have been assisted by Rotary Clubs in Australia with this sort of project before, and they have found it an extremely rewarding experience. Things look very difficult for this little girl, and obviously the family is going through a terrible ordeal. It would be great if a Club or Clubs in your District could make life a little better for them.

The Reids have established a website that you can find more information at: www.caringbridge.org/visit/matissereid

Kind regards,
Tony Fortune, PDG District 9920 2002-2003
Email: tony.fortune@fortunemanning.co.nz

Email's from Jodee

December 6, 2006

Thank you so much for your help and support. I am in touch with Marcia Barber from Rotoray in Pittsburgh, I am not sure which area she is in but they have been very helpful and are meeting us at the airport and have helped with
carseats for the children. They are also helping us with making the right contacts in terms of purchasing a vehicle and renting a house.

We have discovered through immigration that my husband is not eligable for a working visa even if he is sponsored in by an employer in the USA.

We arrive in Pittsburgh on the 12th of January and will stay in a motel for the weekend. On Monday the 15th Matisse and I will spend five days in the Childrens hospital and my husband and children will stay at Ronald MacDonal House. on the 20th we will return to the motel until we find longer term accommodation ie: furnished house.

I will keep you updated with any changes in circumstance.

Once again thank you for your kindness.
Jodee Reid

If you have a problem or want to offer a suggestion.

Please send me an Email. If you can, send the page "Address/Name" and describe the problem you had. Thanks "Curt Henry" <henryc@all-pak.com>
This site is not perfect, check the information presented here. If it is that important. Let me know of any errors.