November 3 we will be co-hosting a Health Fair in partnership with the University of Arkansas School of Nursing.It will basically be like a mini physical that is set up in short stations for each participant to visit. We have several ways the community can get involved in this free community event.

1.) Volunteer your Time to the event.
2.) Donate items needed for the fair (for example: boxes of 100 calorie snacks, protein bars, bottled water or juice) We are guessing we need around 100 of each
3.) Donate items/ Gift Certificate for the raffle. After each participant visits each of the stations they will be given a raffle ticket so we need items such as gift certificates for things like massage, beauty or health treatments or items that can be given away in the raffle.
4.) Come out and set up a booth with your product/ brochure for the fair.

For more information on how you can get plugged in somewhere call Wendy @ 783-0233 or email @ wendy@goodsamaritanclinic.net

People are illogical, unreasonable, and self-centered.
Love them anyway.

If you do good, people will accuse you of selfish ulterior motives.
Do good anyway.

If you are successful, you will win false friends and true enemies.
Succeed anyway.

The good you do today will be forgotten tomorrow.
Do good anyway.

Honesty and frankness make you vulnerable.
Be honest and frank anyway.

The biggest men and women with the biggest ideas can be shot down by the smallest men and women with the smallest minds.
Think big anyway.

People favor underdogs but follow only top dogs.
Fight for a few underdogs anyway.

What you spend years building may be destroyed overnight.
Build anyway.

People really need help but may attack you if you do help them.
Help people anyway.

Give the world the best you have and you’ll get kicked in the teeth.
Give the world the best you have anyway.

Good Samaritan Clinic is off to a busy 2012.  We are seeing the need for the Clinic growing every day.  With the recent lay-offs, shut downs, and fewer companies offering coverage more people are losing their health insurance. Increased health care costs mean that health insurance is “virtually out of reach” for low wage workers.  The result is more people will join the millions of Americans who are already uninsured.  Your continued help and support is more important now than ever before.

                  We continue to have a large number of supporters and donors who generously give of their time and money in support of the clinic.  At the end of last year we were able to raise $82,155 with our “Shine the Light” program and we raised $4,455 through the “Easter Gift” program.  On behalf of myself, the Board of Directors, clinic staff, volunteers and most of all our patients we want to thank you for your donations.  We are extremely grateful for your continued support of this worthwhile mission.

Good Samaritan Clinic would like to welcome Wendy Arrington as our New Donor Relations Coordinator.  She joined our team in July of this year and is excited to hit the ground running in helping the clinic grow.  I’m sure you will enjoy working with her in the future.  We want to welcome two new Board Members to the GSC Board of Directors.  Thank you Michael Schluterman and Harold MacDowell for your service and we look forward to working with you in the future.  Also, Dr. John Lane and Dr. Gary Linker have recently joined our team and have graciously volunteered their time to treat some of our patients.  Together, both doctors bring added skills to the clinic that we were unable to offer in the past.  Thank you to Dr. Kim Brunk for joining our team because we are now able to offer our patients two vision clinics per month instead of just one.  We are also partnering with the local Lion’s Club to provide eye glasses for our patient’s.  We want to thank Terry Carson and the Lion’s Club for all their assistance.  We are continuing to partner with UAFS and their nursing program to provide educational training twice a month to our diabetic patients and want to send a special thank you to Felicia Pendleton and Barbara Lange with UAFS for their continued support.

The clinic had its second annual “Riding for a Reason” Poker Run in May.  It was a beautiful day and we had a great turn out with many bikers showing up for the event.  We had a great time, good food and many door prizes along with two grand prizes for the bikers.  This event also gave us a a unique opportunity to promote the clinic through various forms of local advertising.

Make sure that you continue to use your Good Samaritan Club Cards that were sent out at the first of the year.  The local businesses that honor these cards look forward to serving you and it’s a small token of our appreciation for you and your support of our mission.  If for some reason you did not receive one or need a replacement feel free to contact Wendy and she will mail one to you.

We are continuing to speak with various churches, civic groups, and businesses in the Fort Smith area.  If you are aware of any groups that we could come and visit please let us know.  We are trying to let as many people as possible learn about the clinic and the services we provide.  We believe that everyone reading this newsletter knows of someone that needs our help.  Please help us spread the word of our clinic and its mission.

Without your help and support the clinic and the much needed services we provide would not be possible.  Your thoughtful gifts will be used to defray the costs of providing health care to the uninsured of our area.  You can be assured that your support and donations are being used effectively to treat the largest number of local uninsured individuals as possible.  Thank you again for your assistance and we look forward to working with you in the future. 

The Good Samaritan Clinic staff would like to thank everyone for their participation in our first ever “Bike for Health Poker Run.” It would not have been a success without such kind volunteers and participants!

We are excited to announce several up and coming fundraisers!

We will be hosting a booth at Holiday Market; November 17th,18th and 19th. We are sharing our booth with the wonderful creative team;Angie Crook and Geri Schwarz,from specialty children’s shop Cotton and Clover. They have generously offered to give us a percentage of each sale made during holiday market! This is going to be such a wonderful oppurtunity for us to encourage others to join in our mission of providing healthcare for those in need.

We are also excited for the debut of our Good Sam Cards. The Good Sam Cards will be valid for the entire year of 2012 and will act as a discount card to several beloved local businesses. These cards will be distributed to our donors as a thank you and will be sold at some of our fundraising events.

Be on the lookout for our annual “Shine your Light” campaign, these will be distributed the week before Thanksgiving.

And last but not least we are gearing up for our first ever “Pictures with Santa” We will be hosting this event at the Skinner Building, Saturdays, December 3rd, 10th, and 17th from 12-3:30 p.m. Each family will be able to have multiple pictures taken and placed on a cd for only $7. There will also be several festive things for kids to enjoy!

If you are interested in participating in any of these events or would like more informaion feel free to contact Corrine Adams at (479)783-0233.

The Nation’s Biggest Free Clinic | Parade.com.

8:30am – Wednesday, February 10^th

Today is the beginning of Good Samaritan Clinic’s annual Shine Your Light appeal.

I hope you’ll consider giving a gift to the Clinic in the name of someone you love.

To learn more about how to spread some radiance during the upcoming holiday season, read our Shine Your Light Flyer.  If you would like to mail a gift, you can print out and complete this Shine Your Light information form.

We will mail the cards to your friends after December 1.