LUIS MIRAMONTES MEMORIAL FOUNDATION CELEBRATES $50,000 DONATION TO REDDING’S MERCY MEDICAL CENTER DA VINCI® SURGERY PROGRAM

March 9, 2014, Redding, CA – The Luis Miramontes Memorial Foundation (LMMF) started 2013 with one year of fundraising and events under its belt and finished the year having formed a new and exciting partnership/merger with the North State Cancer League (NSCL).

Looking back, as the LMMF’s first year (2012) came to an end, the LMMF Board directed an impressive contribution of $25,000 be made to Mercy Medical Center Redding’s da Vinci® robotic surgery program; a monumental leap for a fledgling Foundation that had hoped to raise $7,500 its first year.

As 2013 came to a close, and during the LMMF’s recent Annual Meeting, the Board proudly presented Mercy Medical Center’s President, Mark Korth and Mercy Foundation North’s CEO, Maggie Redmon with a $50,000 donation to support Mercy’s da Vinci® Si™ program. The da Vinci Si is one of the most technologically advanced surgical platforms available today for minimally invasive surgeries, including many cancer-related procedures. The simulator feature of Mercy’s da Vinci® Si™ provides doctors with virtual training opportunities using the robot.

LMMF Board President, Machelle Miramontes-Henning expressed her thoughts about the Foundation, which was started in memory of her late husband Louie, “Thanks to the generous support of the Redding business community, Louie’s memorial foundation was able to contribute once again this year to advancing the latest surgical system training at Redding’s Mercy Medical Center”. Machelle continued, “the LMMF and our Annual Louie Shoot Out Memorial Golf tournament are relative newcomers to north state fundraising in the fight against cancer, and it is with great humility that I say, we will be around for many years to come, again, thanks to the Redding business community’s support”.

The NSCL has proudly hosted their Valentine’s Fantasy Ball with its proceeds being directed to the American Cancer Society in their effort to fight, and ultimately eradicate, cancer. “We have been proud to support the American Cancer Society all these years”, related NSCL’s Lesley Patenaude, “but by partnering with the LMMF, we will be able to address the need for assistance and support for cancer patients and their families within our local community”.

The LMMF’s Vice President, Steve Gaines also pointed to the Redding business community as the catalyst behind the Foundation’s rapid success, “as Machelle pointed out, if not for the Redding business community, our Foundation would not have been able to contribute $75,000 to Mercy’s surgical training program; I know I am speaking for our entire Board when I say we are truly humbled and honored by our community’s outpouring of support for our Foundation’s mission – providing assistance and support for cancer patients and their families within our local community”.

For more information please contact Steve Gaines at 244-7515 or 941-4194 or Curtis Byron at 224-2345.