Ronald Poppo, the homeless victim of the face-eating attack, faces a long and expensive road towards recovery. But the international interest in the gruesome event has an upside: To date, around 2,000 Samaritans have donated approximately $75,000 to go to his medical care. We got that figure from Larry Clark, communications director at Jackson Memorial Foundation (JMF), the hospital-linked charity that is taking donations.
Here's the thing: Poppo will see 90-percent of that. JMF takes 10-percent for itself. If you're like us, you'd rather see every penny of your money go directly to Poppo. And making that happen is as easy as walking to the mailbox.
Poppo is covered by Medicare and Medicaid, so those programs will cover whatever free care he qualifies for. JMF's fund will then go towards the remainder of his care. There's no current estimate for Poppo's medical costs, but they should be hugely expensive, especially if he ends up qualifying for a face transplant.
If there is money left over after his medical needs are fulfilled, JMF's remaining fund-- minus 10 percent, of course-- goes to him personally.
God bless the JMF for setting up the fund, but we'd say $7,500 for their troubles is enough. You can cut out the middleman by sending checks or money orders to:
Ronald Poppo
Ryder Trauma Center
Jackson Health System
1800 Northwest 10th Avenue
Miami, FL 33136
We've confirmed that Poppo will receive the mail, even if he's moved between hospital areas by the time you send the donation.
"Jackson's only official avenue for donation is through the Jackson Memorial Fund," says the hospital's corporate director of public affairs, Ed O'Dell. But he admits that sending a check to Poppo is as easy as sending a check to your grandmother in the hospital. Surrounding by caretakers, cashing those checks and money orders shouldn't be an issue for Poppo.
Plus, we bet he'd love the mail.
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