September 19-20, 2015
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Inclement weather dampens prep sports; games to resume today / 17
KCChronicle.com
SERVING THE TRI-CITIES AND KANELAND SINCE 1881
‘THE FACE OF OUR MISSION’ By BRENDA SCHORY
bschory@shawmedia.com GENEVA – Evelyn Gibbons is a lively, chatty little girl, a bundle of almost nonstop energy and a joy to her parents. When she was born in 2006, Evelyn had a cleft lip and palate, which means her lip and the roof of her mouth – the palate – did not close all the way. Her parents, Adam and Heidi Gibbons of Geneva, said they took it in stride, taking their baby on a medical journey of surgeries, bone grafts and therapies to correct the problem. Evelyn has more surgery to come, but in the meantime, she is enjoying third grade at Harrison Street Elementary School and playing with her 5-year-old brother, Toby. “Nobody knows what causes cleft palate,” Heidi Gibbons said. “It’s a birth defect that happens about 1 in 700 to 1,000 births.” While Evelyn underwent multiple surgeries and therapies at Rush University Hospital in Chicago, her grandparents, Jane and Joe Bartel of North Carolina, came to help. They met a doc-
LOCAL NEWS
tor who was from Guatemala. “I hadn’t heard of the thousands of babies with cleft palate who are just abandoned in a field or so malnourished because they are so hard to feed,” Jane Bartel said. “I went back to my daughter’s house, and I could not get it out of my head. What if Evelyn was born in Guatemala, and she died and no one tried to help her? That put a seed in my head.” Six months later, Jane Bartel and her husband founded Evelyn’s Baskets of Love and Life and have helped about 300 babies with a cleft lip and palate and their families. The charity helps give babies in rural Guatemala access to lifesaving surgery, but that’s not all. The baskets contain items to help the mothers support their babies to be strong enough for the surgeries, such as special bottles and money for formula. They also contain photos of Evelyn before and after the corrective surgery. Evelyn and her father, Adam Gibbons, went to Guatemala for a week this summer, meeting up with the Bartels, who were there
68 46 FORECAST ON PAGE 5
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Geneva family members highlight cleft lip, palate issues in Guatemala
Sandy Bressner – sbressner@shawmedia.com
Know more Donations to Evelyn’s Baskets of Love and Life can be made online at www.evelynsbaskets.org/donations.html or by sending a check to Jane and Joe Bartel at 1303 Belle Drive, North Myrtle Beach, SC 29582
See EVELYN GIBBONS, page 6
LOCAL NEWS
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Rattlesnake master a unique plant with a unique name, prevalent in Tri-Cities / 10
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Evelyn Gibbons, 7, of Geneva was born with a cleft lip and palate. Her grandparents started Evelyn’s Baskets of Love and Life to raise funds and support children in Guatemala with the same problems, as they might have little access to doctors for surgeries.
Investigation ongoing
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‘It would help our bottom line’ St. Charles business owners want voices heard after Government Operations Committee voted against proposed video gaming ordinance / 4
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