Arizona Pain Foundation Update

Arizona Pain Specialists together with the Arizona Pain Foundation once again saw great success at the 3rd annual Christmas party for refugees primarily from the country of Burma (Myanmar). We were able to provide nearly 1,000 people with a hot meal and distributed staff donations of hygiene items including soap, toothbrushes, and laundry detergent to the families.

There were over 600 children in attendance that enjoyed the party immensely. Volunteers constructed balloon animals and balloon hats for the children, and there were arts and crafts stations set up where the children were able to color Christmas pictures, and make ornaments and other crafts. The face-painting station was extremely popular, with an almost constant line the entire evening where volunteers painted Christmas trees, hearts and clown faces onto the excited and enthusiastic children.

For the volunteers, the best part of the event was seeing the joy and gratitude of the participants, many of which have never celebrated an American Christmas before. “We were excited to be able to provide games, activities and gifts for the children and a hot meal for everyone,” Dr. Paul Lynch says. “For many of these people, this is the first time that they have experienced generosity and human warmth since leaving their war-torn homelands. We feel so blessed and so humbled to be able to provide this to so many people.”
For the children, it was obvious that the best part of the evening was a visit from Santa, who brought a special toy for every child there. “Many of the children have never received even a simple Christmas gift before,” Dr. Tory McJunkin says. “It was such an amazing experience to see the joy on their faces as so many have left ravaged, impoverished, and devastating environments to come to America.”

Thanks to a generous donation from the Phoenix Dream Center, the older children in attendance were also the happy recipients of a new bicycle. Arizona Pain Specialists CEO Joe Carlon says, “The excitement of the children was palpable – all of our volunteers were swept up in the joy of the children and had a great time as well. This event was truly a success, and we hope to continue this tradition for many years to come.”

The Arizona Pain Foundation is funded solely by 5% of all proceeds from the three Arizona Pain Specialists clinics. Founded by Dr. Paul Lynch and Dr. Tory McJunkin, the non-profit Arizona Pain Foundation exists to bring aid to those most in need, both locally and abroad. In addition to the annual Christmas Party for Children from Around the World, the Foundation sponsors missionaries in Central Asia, Mexico and Central America, and facilitates one outreach event each quarter.