71 "Oh MyAchin Fee GIVING page 46 1 "`"6" 1 "': If you are experiencing any foot problems you know how painful it can be. Dr Lazar specializes in heel spurs • warts • callouses and corns • sports injuries • ingrown nails • mycotic nails • foot deformities • diabetes and fractures. Dr. Lazar can provide free transportation as needed or he can make house calls as needed. Dr. Lazar Has Moved His Office To A New Location That Is Within Easy Access From 1 696 - Daniel Lazar D.P.M. P.C. 15300 W. Nine Mile Rd. Oak Park (2 blocks E. of Greenfield) S1 E,VEN ARBIT, M.D. . Steven Arbit, M.D. is pleased to announce the opening of his practice in Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation. 8391 Commerce Road Suite 107 Commerce Township Michigan 48382 (810) 360-8660 PHYSICAL MEDIcINE 4 REHABILITATION • ELECTROMYOGRAPHY 47, In the last 40 years, the death rate from heart attack has dropped 34% U) w cc) w f-- TONE the death rate from con- genital heart defects is down 41% and the death rate from stroke is down 60%. creative productions The American Heart Association of Michigan is 40 years old. A Small Division of Amera Communications, Inc. 0 cn LLI F- 48 10 IF YOUR LAST VIDEO EVENT PUT YOUR FAMILY TO SLEEP, CALL US FOR THE NEXT ONE! American Heart Association Tony Gorkiewia Formerly of Persona Video of Michigan A United Way Agency (810) 851-2300 1 the World Village, with free, six- day accommodations for termi- nally ill children and their families. Then he contacted everyone from Budget Rent A Car, which now provides free ground transportation for the families, to Disneyworld, which donates free passes and gifts. Everyone, he said, was more than eager to help. Even seniors got into the act. With a professional staff of 50, Give Kids the World has more than 800 volunteers — many of whom are senior citizens from the Orlando Jewish Community Cen- ter, who greet families at the air- port as they come in from around the world. It's a kind of a payback. Mr. Landwirth donated the funds for a JCC senior citizens center. With all the time they spend volun- teering with Give Kids the World families, the seniors have more than paid for the facility, Mr. Landwirth said. t's a hot summer afternoon — temperatures have topped 90 for days now — and Ra- mona Powell sits in the living room of her Detroit home. Pic- tures of her two sons and one daughter are everywhere. The fan is whirring. Children outside are laughing. Mrs. Powell is do- ing her best, considering. For the past four years, life has been hard. In 1990, Mrs. Powell's oldest son, Arland, was diagnosed with leukemia. Arland had fractured his leg. It wasn't healing. 'We were afraid that he hadn't stayed off it enough; he was always so busy," Mrs. Powell said. But then one June evening Ar- land's brother told his parents, "Arland was crying all night." The family took him to the hospital, where Arland was di- agnosed with leukemia. Doctors said he had two years to live. "At first," Mrs. Powell said, "all you do is cry." Then came the treatments: spinals and injections and non- ending pills. Chemotherapy. There was a bone-marrow search (no match has been found). Today, Arland often prefers to take his treatments alone, Mrs. Powell said. "He tells us, 'I'm a man.' " What has been especially dif- ficult was his physician's direc- tive that Arland should not continue in school. His disease has left him too vulnerable to in- fection. Arland had hoped to study engineering, or maybe art. "Art is his real strength," Mrs. Powell said. What he was allowed was a trip to Disneyworld. The Powells' trip was coordi- nated through the local Make-A- Wish Foundation. A limousine picked up the family at their De- troit home, then everyone was I (810) 967-3668 g • '*-k- 4. . t; • flown to Orlando. They had a pri- vate villa at Give Kids the World, where the Powell children spent many hours playing Nintendo. They dined out every night (the Hard Rock Cafe was a big hit). They went to Disneyworld. They visited Epcot Center and the new MGM studios, too. And natural- ly they made a stop at Gatorland, where some members of the Powell family were daring enough to taste alligator ham- burgers. Mrs. Powell had a ham- burger there, she said. "A beef hamburger." Arland is now 17. He loves clothes and basketball and swimming. Mrs. Powell said she and her husband try to keep things in perspective: 'We look at all the people who have had it worse." Families with terminally ill children had canceled trips to Florida. The problem was time. They also spend a lot of time praying. n 1986, Give Kids the World averaged 329 families a year. Today, it's more than 4,000, and visitors come from around the world: Israel, Holland, Great Britain, Egypt, Russia, China, Korea and Pakistan. Last year, some 150 families from Michigan went to Give Kids the World. Each visit costs about $3,000. Mr. Landwirth's other chari- table work includes helping found the Mercury Seven Foundation, which gives scholarships to science students, and establish- ing a number of scholarships for underprivileged Israeli youth. He has been honored as Em- ployer of the Year by the Florida Association of Retarded Children and with the United Cerebral Palsy Association Humanitarian Award. "I'm 67, and what I have learned in life is that nothing is impossible if you focus on your mission," Mr. Landwirth said. "I can't change the fact that these children are dying, but we can give them wonderful mem- ories." 0 I