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Bridgeport CT – Dr. Charles Ray Jones Birthday Party

May 2, 2004

Bridgeport CT – Dr. Charles Ray Jones Birthday Party

I want to first wish Dr Jones a very happy healthy birthday! Next I want to thank all who have made this day possible, all the volunteers here today, the Newtown Lyme Disease Task Force and especially Kim Harrison for organizing this wonderful tribute to Dr Jones. Everyone knows Dr Jones’ dedication reaches far and wide, today maybe we can get an idea how far. By a show of hands, did anyone come from west of the Mississippi to be here today? the Midwest? The South? How about the MidAtlantic and the Northeast? (RI, NH, VT, MA, PA, NY, NJ, DE, MD, PA,)

It seems appropriate that the day opening Lyme awareness month, we are here to honor a great man, a man who holds in his hands the fate our most precious resource, our children–children who have often been shuffled from doctor to doctor, children who have sometimes been told they were faking their illnesses. They arrive at his office, sick and emotionally damaged. Here they find a kind, compassionate and knowledgeable man devoted to their physical and mental rehabilitation. I have brought with me today several greetings for Dr Jones, first a happy birthday wish from Drs. Rick Brand and Jane Kelman who were not able to attend due to a medical meeting this weekend, the second a short note from Dr Ray Stricker, San Francisco whose present is in his note (READ), and the last is from a Congressman (ask kids what a congressman is) (READ).

These letters represent a small fraction of the outpouring of support for Dr Jones that I hear about in my national travels. He is a legend from coast to coast. We are lucky to have him, our children even luckier.

Thanks does not seem enough for you Dr. Jones, and today, on your birthday celebration, you have generously agreed to donate in lieu of gifts to the Lyme Disease Association’s LymeAid 4 Kids fund. The fund is being supported by Author Amy Tan whose inspiration was directed and molded by your wisdom, so that monies could begin to flow for diagnosis and beginning treatment of children whose families lack insurance coverage for Lyme disease. The first monies were distributed to families in April. I have with me a DVD for you of Amy Tan’s presentation of Lyme Aid 4 Kids to LDA’s medical conference in Philadelphia in 2003. In it, she mentions the efforts you made to help LDA open this fund.

At this time, I want to present you with this check from your grateful patients and friends. I t is to LDA’s LymeAid 4 Kids fund and it is for close to $10,000. Your legacy grows each day by leaps and bounds. Thank you Charles Ray Jones, for who you are and what you do. The families thank you, the children thank you, the LDA thanks you, and I thank you from the bottom of my heart as an advocate, mother and grandmother. Happy Birthday and many, many more.