Three years ago, Alvina Long, a parishoner at Our Lady of Mercy church in Potomac, was examining the availability of health clinics in the county.
“We went to the clinics operating at that time,” Long said. “We knew there was a medical need in the county.”
She was informed that the upcounty region was underserved and sought to fill that need, so she co-founded the Mercy Health Clinic in Germantown.
“We all love what we’re doing,” Long said.
The clinic offers services to uninsured county residents. “We have a lot of working poor,” said Long, who serves as executive director of the clinic.
Among some of the more frequently served populations are new immigrants, people who have lost their jobs and part-time workers.
The clinic has about 40 people who volunteer their time there, including office help and medical assistance, in addition to two full-time nurses. “We can use almost any kind of volunteer help,” Long said. “The people who volunteer, I think, get more out of it than the patients.”
However, some of the help the clinic needs doesn’t have anything to do with healthcare.
Potomac resident Cyndie Henrichs is a professional marketing consultant who is helping to market the clinic’s major fund-raiser of the year, The Great Chef’s Celebration.
“I like being able to use the expertise I have in giving back to the community,” Henrichs said. “I really like the whole concept of what the Mercy Health Clinic is set up to do,” Henrichs said. “And it’s right here, I can see a visible impact.”
Martin Saylor, executive chef of Butterfield 9, has recruited chefs from a variety of area restaurants. “The chefs are donating not only their time in cooking, but also the food,” Henrichs said.
She said that the food which they prepare will be of the same caliber that they would prepare in their own restaurants. As an added treat, the chefs will not be spending all of their time in the kitchen. “The chefs are available for all the guests,” Henrichs said. “This is a great opportunity.
The space for the event, the Twin Oaks Estate, is being donated to the clinic by the Cultural and Economic Representative of Taiwan.
Another guest of honor will be the event’s honorary chairperson, Kendal Ehrlich, wife of Maryland Governor Bob Ehrlich (R). “This year we really went out to try to get a marquee honorary chairperson,” Henrichs said.