ST. LOUIS — A St. Louis grocery family is allowing you to help needy people in a remote region halfway around the world.
At St. Louis-area Dierberg’s Markets, a “round up” campaign encourages people to round up to the nearest dollar at the cash register. Proceeds will be donated to a hospital in war-torn Sudan.
Dr. James Coyle is a surgeon at St. Luke’s Hospital and a board member for African Mission Healthcare.
“There was no healthcare there,” Coyle said. “Over the past 10 years, Dr. Tom Catena has made the difference.”
Coyle and Dierberg’s CEO Greg Dierberg are advocating for Catena, an American doctor who established Gidel Mother of Mercy Hospital in the Nuba Mountains of war-torn Sudan. The roundup campaign at Dierberg’s is called “Heart of Nuba,” and continues through April 8.
“There isn’t a lot of what we call high-energy trauma there, because they don’t have motor vehicles,” Coyle said. “But there’s a lot of diseases, such as tuberculosis. There is an area where leprosy is cared for. Leprosy is almost eradicated in the world, but there is leprosy there.”
Coyle said 60-year-old Catena is the only surgeon for a population of more than one million people.
“If there is a measles outbreak, it can be fatal, if it’s not treated in certain areas of the world,” Coyle said. “There’s malaria every year in the rainy season, and Catena stays there for all of it and treats it all. He works seven days a week.”
“I’d love to see a large amount of donations go to this worthy cause,” said Dierberg. “Those small little pennies add up to big dollars. So, if we can raise big dollars, Jim will match it, and ultimately the hospital in Nuba will get a significant contribution.”
Coyle and his wife, Cindy, are matching up to $100,000 from Dierberg’s “Heart of Nuba” round-up campaign.
“The difference somebody makes when they donate $5 may be lifesaving,” Coyle said. “There are people there who don’t have enough protein to sustain growth for little kids. There are people whose lives are saved because they have a C-section. Dr. Catena does this for pennies on a dollar compared to what we do in the United States.”
Dierbergs Rewards members will have the opportunity to donate their points in the Dierbergs App, or anyone can donate online at https://www.dierbergs.com/nuba.