Caridad To Hold ‘25 Years Of Caring’ At Polo Club

The Caridad Center, the largest free healthcare and dental clinic in Florida, will host “25 Years of Caring: A Salute to the Heroes of Caridad” on Monday, April 7 at 6 p.m. at the International Polo Club Palm Beach in Wellington.

The event will honor the 400 volunteers whose medical, dental, vision and social service expertise enables the clinic to provide 26,000 patient visits each year. The dinner will also celebrate Caridad’s 25 years of providing free medical services to the working poor and uninsured in Palm Beach County.

“Caridad Center simply could not exist without its incredible corps of volunteers,” Executive Director Laura Kallus said. “It is remarkable to reflect on the number of children and their families whose health and lives have been improved — and sometimes saved — through our partnership of donors and volunteers.”

The presenting sponsor is the International Polo Club and International Polo Club Catering. Additional sponsors include the Goshen Hill Foundation, FirstPath, Quest Diagnostics Inc., Bethesda Health Inc., Maserati of Palm Beach, the Grand Champions Polo Club, Phelps Media Group International, Equestrian Sport Productions, the Kosinski Foundation, Mr. and Mrs. William McCauley, Daszkal Bolton Accountants & Advisors, the Sun-Sentinel, Nurse on Call, Illustrated Properties, the Central Palm Beach County Chamber of Commerce and the Wanderers Club.

The event co-chairs are Caroline Moran, Sanjiv Sharma and Robert Souaid. Committee members include Constance Berry, Luis Torres, Richard Retamar, Marie Speed, Dr. Paul Archacki, Penny Kosinski, Sugar Savin McCauley and Billy Williams.

The evening will honor all of Caridad’s volunteers, and especially recognize those who have reached their 5-, 10-, 15- and 20-year anniversaries of service. Tickets are available for $250.

For more information about sponsorship opportunities, or for an invitation to the event, call (561) 853-1638.

The Caridad Center is the largest free healthcare clinic operated through volunteer providers in Florida, serving the working poor and recently uninsured throughout Palm Beach County.

More than 400 doctors, dentists and other medical professionals donate their time and provide services valued at over $2.3 million a year. The Caridad Center provides 26,000 patient visits each year, bypassing costly emergency room visits, which saves county taxpayers an estimated $4.8 million annually.

In addition to medical services, Caridad provides college scholarships, baby supplies, crisis intervention services, back-to-school supplies and the adopt-a-family program during the holidays. For more info., visit www.caridad.org.

ABOVE: Dr. Marita Malone, Sanjiv Sharma, Caroline Moran, Robert Souaid, Luis Torres, Sonia Torres and Dr. Paul Archacki.