Contact: Pam McDonnell (212) 404-3555Public Affairs, NYU Medical Center
TORTURE SURVIVOR PROGRAM HONORS "CLIMB FOR COURAGE"
APRIL 2, 2002 - To honor five volunteers who raised $85,000 climbing Mount McKinley, the Bellevue/NYU Program for Survivors of Torture launches its first-ever benefit event at Sequoia on Pier 17 at South Street Seaport, New York City on April 4, 2002 at 6 PM.
Based on the friendship that developed between Jon Gutman, a fourth-year student at NYU School of Medicine and a group of Tibetan torture survivors, five young climbers scaled Mount McKinley with prayer flags and cowry shells, drawing donations from people across the country.
"The funds raised by the Climb for Courage has been crucial to our program's ability to meet the needs of the torture survivors we serve," says Dr. Allen S. Keller, M.D., director/founder of the program.
Dr. Keller, a NYU/Bellevue physician with experience in Cambodia, and a small group of doctors and psychologists founded the program in 1995 in an effort to serve refugee patients who exhibited the physical and psychological signs and symptoms of torture.
Patients served now number upwards of 600 men, women, and children from more than 60 countries, receiving care in more than eight languages. Largest groups within the program's patient population are Tibetan and West Africans. The program expanded to meet patients' clear and urgent needs, and now offers medical, psychological, legal, and social services, as well as English and GED instruction.
Featured at the benefit will be images and radio dispatches made by the climbers from throughout the climb. Spokespeople available that evening include Jon Gutman, honoree, Allen S. Keller, program director, and Jampa Gyaltso, a former program client. The event is underwritten by Hunton & Williams law firm and Ortho-McNeil Pharmaceutical.
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