HOME GET INVOLVED PROGRAMS EVENTS PRESS ABOUT US APRIL 17 5 - 6PM PST Celebrating Our Sweet 16th Year of Mending Kids Thank you so much to everyone that participated in our 2021 Imagine Gala online auction and live event. Bidding is truly an act of service, and with your help we are able to continue providing critical surgical care to children in the US and around the world. If you missed the livestream, don’t worry! Check out the recording below. Thank you again, we couldn’t do it without you. Together, we are Mending Kids. DONATE ONLINE AUCTION CLOSES 9PM TODAY! Click on the cover to read our program book → DOWNLOAD OUR PROGRAM PDF We Celebrate This Year HOPE AWARD Danna Ramon Danna is a courageous 16-year-old former patient from Ecuador. In 2004, when Danna was just 3 months old her family came across Mending Kids and applied for surgical care in hopes of mending Danna’s heart. Danna and her family traveled to the US, where she was treated at UCLA for several months and underwent multiple complex surgeries. After a lengthy hospital stay filled with ups and downs Danna finally recovered and has grown to be a healthy teenager. Danna and her family eventually moved to New York where she now attends New Dorp High School. Dana hopes to become a neonatologist or pediatric surgeon and says “it has always been my wish to give back a little of the help I received when I needed it.” We honor Danna this year for her bravery, her journey, and her bright future. LOVE AWARD Nick Simmons Nick Simmons is a writer, musician, musical director, and television personality best known for appearing on the television show Gene Simmons Family Jewels on A&E for seven seasons. He has written articles for Vice, Elite Daily, Esquire, and The Huffington Post. Nick has volunteered for many Hometown Missions and is honored for his longtime support of and advocacy for Mending Kids. MEND AWARD Andre Panossian, MD Dr. Andre Panossian is an internationally recognized, board-certified plastic surgeon specializing in craniofacial surgery, facial paralysis, and reconstructive surgery for the face, breast, and body. Dr. Panossian is additionally one of three top surgical experts in the United States who treats a rare condition called neurofibromatosis. He has been a volunteer surgeon with Mending Kids for 10 plus years and is a member of our Board of Directors. He participates annually in our Hometown Mission and has treated many of our international surgical care patients who traveled to the U.S. for care. He also initiated Mending Kids' first surgical mission to Armenia in 2015. What started as a solo effort to treat underserved pediatric patients in his cultural homeland soon expanded to become a fully-staffed, annual weeklong pilgrimage to provide surgeries as well as an instructional for medical students and doctors in the capital city of Yerevan. EVENT CHAIR Carmela de Brouwer COMMITTEE MEMBERS: Deidre Bailey Lori Beckwith Rana Gebran Dorothy Lucey Elisa Montgomery Bobbe Moore Julie Pollum Jorge Saud Lydia Valenta Luann Williams EVENT CHAIRS & COMMITTEE CLICK TO SEE LEVELS SPONSOR NOW Mending Kids is a 501(c) 3 nonprofit organization registered in California, United States of America. Mailing Address: 21255 Burbank Blvd., Ste 120 Los Angeles, CA 91367 Contact: 818-843-6363 | Hello@mendingkids.org Copyright Mending Kids © 2021