MOA: Why did you decide to start your wonderful charity Mending Kids?
Cris Embleton, the founder of Mending Kids was a pioneer spirit who would fight for any child who needed help. She traveled to developing countries and would bring children who needed surgery back to the United States for care. Sometimes she would bring one child, sometimes 12. She would sit in the waiting rooms of hospitals waiting on doctors to walk by and she would beg them to help the kids in need. When Cris retired in 2008, the Board conducted a search and Marchelle was recruited to continue Cris’ mission and crusade, and to bring light to the public about the great work of Mending Kids.
MOA: Who else is involved in the running of the charity?
Mending Kids is supported by an 18-member Board of Directors who are completely dedicated to ensuring the organization’s success and the day to day work that is required to organize mission trips and provide surgeries for children is a staff of nine. We are also incredibly excited to have over 200 volunteer doctors and nurses in our close family.
MOA: How do you find people to bring into your organization that truly care about the organization the way you do?
This is a good question and tough one. When we post a job, one of the most important aspects is passion for what we do. It is also a passion for advocating on behalf of kids, most of whom we never get to meet. In fact, only 25% of our staff will interact with our children while the remaining 75% are working on behalf of them. In our hearts, we know that kids and their families need our voices, our commitment our dedication. We live and breathe this work because finding surgeries for children so they can live, takes every ounce of breath and energy we can muster.