Ice cream is a sweet treat. This week, it will also be a sweet cause.
Photo provided by Julia ReichThe Finger Lakes Dexter Creamery in King Ferry makes kefir cheese, which is a type of organism beneficial to human health. It thrives in milk and thus is made into cheese using the “fruit” of the farm's Dexter cows.
United Ministry of Aurora will hold an ice cream social Wednesday to benefit a young child in Iraq. The baby girl, whose name is Rafal and was born in May, is in need of a medical procedure to correct a birth defect.
Visitors will be able to eat banana splits with homemade hot fudge and butterscotch, and there will be two 50-50 drawings.
The daughter of an Iraqi police lieutenant, Rafal has been diagnosed with infantile hydrocephaly and meningomyelocele. The first condition is a buildup of fluid in the head, while the second is an abnormality of the spinal chord.
Paul Van Vorce is an international police advisor who is working with officers south of Baghdad. Rafal's father works at one of the stations Van Vorce monitors and was also in one of his training classes, Van Vorce said.
The man reached out to Van Vorce for help, as the surgery to correct the conditions can't be carried out by military or civilian practitioners in Iraq, he said.
“I felt obligated to do what I could,” Van Vorce wrote in an e-mail from Iraq this week.
As he searched for some help, Van Vorce found HopeMD. The non-profit organization works to match Iraqi families with specialty physicians.
Since HopeMD can collect funds for specific cases, Van Vorce contacted the church where he is a member for some help.
Ideally, the organization will probably try and get Rafal to a hospital in the United States for treatment, he said in the e-mail
“The goal is to make her well whatever it takes,” Van Vorce said.
Van Vorce has been working in Iraq for two years, and over that time he has sent requests to United Ministry for donations, said Dixie Whitney, chair of the church's fellowship committee.
Most of the time, he requests items like kites or art supplies for children, Whitney said. But when he asked what they could do for Rafal, the committee decided to use its annual ice cream benefit to help the child, she said.
“This is a perfect combination,” Whitney said. “We didn't have a project yet for this year, and we thought we could certainly do something to help this baby.”
The social will be on the church lawn, though if there is a problem with weather, it will be moved inside, she said.
As an added bonus, Van Vorce will be on leave and will be able to attend the benefit. He will say a few words for attendees and answer any questions he can about Rafal's situation, Whitney said.
“It is kind of a neat thing that he will be there,” she said.
Van Vorce said that one has to do what one can to help out a brother in need. Medical conditions are not his expertise, and he is leaving much of the medical issues to the people with the foundation, he said.
“I've never done anything like this before,” Van Vorce wrote in the e-mail “So I'm shooting from the hip and hoping the folks at HopeMD can get the job done for Rafal.”
Visitors will be able to eat banana splits with homemade hot fudge and butterscotch, and there will be two 50-50 drawings.
The daughter of an Iraqi police lieutenant, Rafal has been diagnosed with infantile hydrocephaly and meningomyelocele. The first condition is a buildup of fluid in the head, while the second is an abnormality of the spinal chord.
Paul Van Vorce is an international police advisor who is working with officers south of Baghdad. Rafal's father works at one of the stations Van Vorce monitors and was also in one of his training classes, Van Vorce said.
The man reached out to Van Vorce for help, as the surgery to correct the conditions can't be carried out by military or civilian practitioners in Iraq, he said.
“I felt obligated to do what I could,” Van Vorce wrote in an e-mail from Iraq this week.
As he searched for some help, Van Vorce found HopeMD. The non-profit organization works to match Iraqi families with specialty physicians.
Since HopeMD can collect funds for specific cases, Van Vorce contacted the church where he is a member for some help.
Ideally, the organization will probably try and get Rafal to a hospital in the United States for treatment, he said in the e-mail
“The goal is to make her well whatever it takes,” Van Vorce said.
Van Vorce has been working in Iraq for two years, and over that time he has sent requests to United Ministry for donations, said Dixie Whitney, chair of the church's fellowship committee.
Most of the time, he requests items like kites or art supplies for children, Whitney said. But when he asked what they could do for Rafal, the committee decided to use its annual ice cream benefit to help the child, she said.
“This is a perfect combination,” Whitney said. “We didn't have a project yet for this year, and we thought we could certainly do something to help this baby.”
The social will be on the church lawn, though if there is a problem with weather, it will be moved inside, she said.
As an added bonus, Van Vorce will be on leave and will be able to attend the benefit. He will say a few words for attendees and answer any questions he can about Rafal's situation, Whitney said.
“It is kind of a neat thing that he will be there,” she said.
Van Vorce said that one has to do what one can to help out a brother in need. Medical conditions are not his expertise, and he is leaving much of the medical issues to the people with the foundation, he said.
“I've never done anything like this before,” Van Vorce wrote in the e-mail “So I'm shooting from the hip and hoping the folks at HopeMD can get the job done for Rafal.”
