Stocktoberfest Insights with A Leg to Stand On

Check out our Q&A with Gabriella Mueller-Evrard, Executive Director at ALTSO.

DonateStock: Your mission is to support children with limb disabilities whose families cannot afford treatment. Please explain how ALTSO came to be?

Gabriella: While in Indonesia in the late 1990s, ALTSO's co-founder, C. Mead Welles, was eating dinner on a restaurant patio when he spotted three young boys. Two of the boys were pulling their friend who was seated on top of an overturned garbage can lid because he could not walk; it was clear he had been trying to walk on his stubbed limb, as it was raw and bleeding, and he couldn't stand it any longer. This scene stuck with Mead long after he left the restaurant, his hotel, and Indonesia. He was ashamed of himself; while he could have easily taken that child to a local hospital and, for less than a thousand dollars (which he could have charged on his credit card), paid for the simple treatment the child needed to be able to walk, he had done nothing. In 2002, along with co-founder and former chief of arthroscopic surgery at Mass General Hospital, Dr. Dinesh Patel, A Leg To Stand On was born to provide free, high-quality orthopedic care to children living with limb disabilities in developing countries.

DonateStock: What is the top challenge you face today?

Gabriella: The pandemic has created major supply chain delays, so it is crucial to ensure we are accounting for those delays when placing orders for the orthopedic products our CoolKids depend on to gain or maintain their mobility. But as a result of this unique challenge, we have improved our inventory management systems. This is critical as we continue to scale with the addition of new programs -- helping more children in more parts of the world receive the care they could otherwise not access.

DonateStock: How has the Pandemic impacted your efforts?

Gabriella: ALTSO’s patients, most of whose families earn less than $3 a day, are some of the most vulnerable populations at risk for contracting COVID. Limited healthcare, let alone intensive care, poor access to soap and water, and crowded living conditions put our patient demographic at an especially high risk of contracting and spreading the virus. And as of today, less than 3% of people in low-income countries have received even one COVID vaccine dose. Prevention is critical to avoiding infection. As such, we have expanded our efforts to ensure our teams on the ground are equipped with the proper personal protective equipment (PPE) and sanitizing equipment necessary to operate safely -- ensuring our CoolKids need not choose between their health (or their family's) and their mobility.

DonateStock: How has your approach to fundraising changed?

Gabriella: Like many organizations, the pandemic has pushed us to rethink some of our core fundraising strategies (namely those based on large, in-person gatherings) and to conceptualize fresh ways to communicate our impact and connect with our advocates in the new environment. We are seizing the opportunity to share the important stories of the children and families we serve through more video content, deeper stories on our blog, The Community, and of course, through engaging virtual events. Once you see the difference mobility makes in the lives of not just the CoolKids we serve but in their families and communities, it's impossible not to see how mobility, and access to care, impacts everything we do and every opportunity we have.

DonateStock: Where do you see some silver linings coming from this challenging period?

Gabriella: We have escalated our program management tools, creating even closer proximity with both our teams on the ground as well as the families we serve. As a result of both our new virtual events as well as our revamped communications strategy, we have been able to broaden our reach, connecting with more donors across the globe, and welcoming them into (now virtual) events that they may not have otherwise been able to attend in person; our events are an incredible way to learn more intimately about the way we work, the people we serve, and how each one of us can make an impact on the life of a child. In its 18th year, our signature event, Rocktoberfest, will be live-streamed and feature 15 incredible bands, beautiful messages from our committed sponsors, and some surprise performances from the CoolKids themselves (a first!).

DonateStock: What else would you like the audience to know?

Gabriella: Mobility is more than movement -- it's a human right. Most of ALTSO’s children survive on less than $3 a day, and often live in areas without public transportation. So if they cannot physically walk or bike the 1-3 miles each way to school, they simply do not go to school. Without an education, they are limited to low-paying, often dangerous work as young adults. And without gainful employment, their ability to live self-sufficiently, support their family, or contribute to the community, is diminished. One simple treatment can change the entire course of a child's life, and each of us have the ability to contribute to that change - whether it's by joining our CoolKids Club with a monthly donation of $5, which ensures we can provide a CoolKid with the adjustments or repairs they'll need throughout the year, or a one-time donation to provide a prosthetic limb or appropriately fitted wheelchair, restoring or giving a child the gift of mobility for the very first time.