PALM SPRINGS

SHRINER MAGIC

Cures Sick Children

BY JACKIE DEVEREAUX

PALM SPRINGS

, CA - "Do you know any children who need medical care but cannot afford it? Are you a school nurse or principal who can refer children for all-expense paid medical operations?? If so, then you're the kind of person that Frank Cera, and his Shriner buddies, wants to talk to. Cera, along with John Hill, Dave Berg, Herb Miller, and Don Cook, have been raising money lo- cally for 10 years to provide free medical care to children suffering from a wide range of ailments. The Shriner good guys are a fixture inside the Village Festival held every Thursday here. Cera, and his buddies collect donations, a buck at a time. More than 1,500 valley children have received all-expense paid medical procedures like: Spina Bifida; Scoliosis; Hip, Hand and Lib Disorders; Burn Scars; Cerebral Palsy; Polio, and many other Musculoskeletal disorders. The Shriners Hospitals for Children provides ortho- The SHRINERS at work, this young girl gets an artificial ear. Frank Cera with reporter Jackie Devereaux ~ Photo Tom Devereaux pedic and burn reconstructive surgery at no cost, Cera said. "There's never a bill. We don't have a Billing Department at our hospitals. We pay 100 percent of the bill - even the mother's stay is taken care of.? The Palm Springs Shriners are easy to spot at the street faire - wearing those funny hats with tassels hanging down one side. But don't be fooled by their playful look. These men are serious forces in the community. They make things happen and they make good things happen for complete strangers. Cera, Berg, Miller and Hill, and all the other 400,000 Shriners who make sick children their business, are our kind of news. If you know any child that needs medical care, call Cera at 760-251-4010. He and his Shriner buddies will get them the medical care they need. Visit www.shrinershospitals.org to learn more about this organization whose kinship goes back to the secret society of Freemasons, and is historically linked to the Biblical chivalry of the Knights of the Templar. "If you want to be a Shriner, you have to be a Mason first,? he said, "and most people know what that means.?