In search of the kind of charity work he had been part of in his past, senior Ryan Moore drew from his roots.
Before coming to Marshall in his junior year, Moore spent three years in Beijing, China, where, at the International School of Beijing (ISB), he was actively part of Nightingale, one of the school’s charity organizations. Nightingale is affiliated with the Ping An Medical Foster Home.
According to its website, the foster home takes care of hundreds of Chinese orphans “born with mild to serious physical handicaps and who require surgery.” The orphans have conditions from cleft palate to hypospadia (non-functional bladder) with varying surgery costs. Nightingale helps to pay for these surgeries, which range from $1,420 for a cleft palate reparation to $10,000.
As a Nightingale member, Moore participated in arcade nights, fairs, quiz nights and visited the home to spend time and play with the kids.
Senior Sophia Therriault, who also attended ISB but was not directly a part of the club, commended the prominence of the club in the school.
“One of the great things about the club is it tried to get everybody in the school involved,” Therriault said.
For that reason, Nightingale became one of Moore’s main extracurriculars.
“Over those three years, I got used to being involved in a charity organization,” Moore said.
However, when Moore moved back to the U.S., he did not get involved in any charity organizations here.
For Moore, personal interaction and specifically knowing how he is helping kids is what granted him “unconditional purpose” and gave his charity work meaning.
“It is one thing knowing that there are kids with disabilities you are helping, but it is another thing seeing what they have to live through every day,” Moore said.
In a “good way of getting back into that,” Moore contacted the Ping An Medical Foster Home about his plan to fund the surgeries. As president of National Chinese Honor Society, Moore plans to organize a charity event at Marshall. He hopes it will be able to “sponsor at least one surgery, most probably a cleft palate reparation.”
The search is over. Moore has found his charity work.
“All the money we raise we know is going to the kids for surgeries,” Moore said. “That is the difference for me.”