About the photo published in the paper edition:
On Ton Le Sap lake in Cambodia live fishermen without access to medical care since they are refugees. By listening with my stethoscope, I diagnosed this young girl with a congenital heart defect that we arranged for her to get life saving surgery without which she would not have seen her next birthday. The impact we make abroad compelled me to move from PAMF to SCVMC (our county’s public hospital) to give care to the homeless and undocumented in our area.

As medical director of Jordan International Aid (501c3 nonprofit), I bring volunteers to rural Cambodia (pictured here), Kenya, and every major natural disaster of the last 2 decades to provide lifesaving medicine and connect villagers to local healthcare. As inspiring as it has been for young volunteers like my own children to decide to pursue medicine, it convicted me to devote myself locally to the homeless by transitioning from 17 years at PAMF to work at Peninsula Healthcare Connection (Palo Alto’s only free homeless clinic located in the Opportunity Center) & SCVMC emergency room and urgent cares (Santa clara county’s hospital & public health system serving all regardless of ability to pay).

As clarification, I coordinated trips to Japan but did not go myself, but have been to most of our missions to disaster hit areas.

Hooray for good people who do good things to change the world! Thank you for recognizing their generosity, hard work and kindness.

Congratulations to Judy Kleinberg and The Palo Alto Chamber of Commerce, along with the legion of volunteers, for hosting the 40th Annual Tall Tree Awards and showcasing the truly inspirational contributions of the business, community and individual leadership of this years award winners. These recipients exemplify a joyful giving spirit inspiring all who hear their stories. With the current environment of leadership abdicating their duty by yielding to darker forces the goodwill and commitment of service to others assures us "the mystic chords of memory will swell when again touched, as surely they will be, by the better angels of our nature.”