Jimmy Murphy Awarded Free Braces In Our Elko Cares Program

Jimmy Murphy Awarded Free Braces In Our Elko Cares Program

By admin July 27th

As a provider at Elko Dental Specialists, I was recently invited to attend a local auction put on by The Boys and Girls Club, where all proceeds go to the local chapter.

This young man, Jimmy Murphy—their youth of the year—spoke for about 10 minutes to help kick things off and to personify the good the BGC is doing. He told a heart-wrenching and inspiring story about how his parents had been drug addicts, how they bounced around from apartment to apartment, hotel to hotel, trailer park to trailer park, school to school until they relocated from California to this community to try to get clean and get better jobs.

He and his siblings were enrolled in the Elko Boys and Girls Club, and one day, their parents never came to pick them up. They had left. They had abandoned their children.

The children now faced the prospect of being broken up and going individually into separate foster care homes. They were nervous and afraid. Jimmy went on to say the BGC had saved their lives—stepping in and donating money to help their grandmother adopt and raise them, and the kids have been very active in the BGC ever since.

Jimmy said that he’s had a tutor and mentor at the BGC that has helped him and his siblings with their homework, and he proudly announced that he’s graduating high school with a 3.2 GPA and is going to college next year with the hope of becoming an electrician!

The whole audience was in tears. I wept silently as I contemplated what the strength, kindness, and generosity of others had done for Jimmy and his siblings, and I felt inspired at his strength, hope, and determination to persevere through a true hell and to emerge with love, humility, optimism, and a sense of healthy pride.

I went up to Jimmy after and thanked him for such an uplifting message and example, and I told him if he needed orthodontic treatment, it would be our honor and pleasure at Elko Dental Specialists (EDS) to give him free care. He humbly said he has always wanted braces, but couldn’t afford them and it has been our goal at EDS to find one deserving person every few months to give free orthodontic to, and Jimmy seemed very deserving.

Several days later, we braced him up in ceramic braces (he’s off to college in a few months, after all!), and I’ve felt my own spirit rise as I had the privilege of helping to do a tiny little something to bless his life. I feel confident he’ll pass on the love and kindness he’s been shown by many (most importantly his grandma and his mentors at the BGC; our contribution with the braces, I realize, is small in comparison, but maybe like icing on the cake to make his life a bit sweeter). I’ve shared this story with Jimmy’s permission, hoping it can lift and inspire us to persevere like Jimmy, and also to step in and step up when we can make a difference in the life of someone in need, like the good folks at the Elko BGC have done.

Keep smiling!
Brian Anderson
Orthodontist
Elko Dental Specialists

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