Since the beginning of the coronavirus outbreak in the nation, Dr. Michael Everest has been at the forefront of the country’s struggle against the pandemic. Dr. Everest, of course, needs little introduction to the medical fraternities of the country. Through The Everest Foundation, the charity organization he founded drawing inspiration from the philosophy of his father, Mr. Edwin Everest, Dr. Michael Everest, has donated millions of dollars to promote graduate medical education and research in the country.
And since the outbreak of the pandemic, the foundation has provided considerable financial support to many medical research facilities across the nation. These contributions have boosted testing and various other programs during the recent crisis.
Dr. Michael Everest and Danny Trejo’s Bibles and Tacos
In the meanwhile, back in LA, the renowned actor Danny Trejo was busy making contributions of a different nature. In addition to being the famous ‘Machete’ guy, Trejo had already made successful forays into LA’s food scene, most notably via his restaurant Trejo’s Tacos.
Since reports came out that members from the underserved communities (mainly those belonging to the inner city poor and a large number of them Latino and African-Americans) are more vulnerable to the virus attack, Trejo had begun to distribute nutritious lunch boxes to different communities from South Central LA.
Now, once this came to the notice of Dr. Michael Everest, he decided to join forces with Danny. The result was a neighborhood outreach program hosted at the Kedren Community Health Center. Kedren is another medical facility that has been particularly attentive to the problems of the underserved communities since the outbreak of the virus.
Rahn Bailey, MD, who runs the psychiatric outpatient clinic at Kedren, told the media that, among other things, Kedren health facility had been offering free Covid-19 testing as part of their commitment to come to the aid of the underprivileged and vulnerable populations to the virus. And he was full of praise for both Trejo and Dr. Everest for making the outreach event.
During the event, along with food, copies of the Bible were distributed to people from the neighborhood. In Dr. Everest’s words, the plan to distribute the bible happened to him as a way to satisfy both the physical and ‘spiritual’ hunger of the people. That may sound a little cheesy, but there was nothing cheesy about the intention behind it. The holy book was handed out to bolster people’s courage and so that they can still keep their faith intact during these incredibly difficult times.
During the event, Dr. Everest also donated to the Kedren Community Health Center so the latter can carry on with its commendable efforts to stand by the needy and the vulnerable during this pandemic. Dr. Bailey expressed gratitude to The Everest Foundation for their support to the center and said that this kind of wholehearted community support does not only help the center cover the various costs but also goes a long way in uplifting the spirits of the center staff and health care professionals who have been working indefatigably, often putting their health at risk, to best offset the various adverse outcomes of the pandemic.
Dr. Everest, too, was full of praise for the health care workers. He heaped praises on them, saying that they are the ‘real heroes’ of the city since they are the people who are doing the bulk of the work from behind the scenes. They are not in the spotlight, but they are doing real work, which is to serve people who need genuine care and help. And events such as these that honor these selfless health workers are of great value, Dr. Everest concluded.
