“This event is a unique way we can give back to both our patients and our community at the same time,” said Dr. Jon Anderson, owner of 360 Chiropractic.
During the event, 360 Chiropractics practitioners, Jon Anderson, Stephanie Anderson-Smith and Brent Venables treated nearly 200 patients to courtesy wellness adjustments in exchange for donations for the Anna Marie House which totalled $985.50. The House, part of the Anna Marie Alliance, is dedicated to providing safe shelter, support and referral services for battered women and their children and promotes violence prevention within our community.
"We have chosen to allot the funds from 360 Chiropractic to our Children's Program Services," said Maxine Barnett, Executive Director of Anna Marie House. The program involves ‘wraparound care’ where children are tenderly taught to play again – to be themselves again. "This program is the only one of its kind in the nation that provides for a child psychiatrist to come in and work with kids to help them heal from the trauma they've experienced,"
There is also an outreach educational element to the program involving at-risk kids from local high schools. "The 13-week program is taught by our peer specialists and focuses especially on teaching teens to prevent violence in our culture," Barnett said. Counselors in the schools select students for the program who are either seen to be at high-risk for abuse or who are already living in an abusive situation. "The evaluations that these kids send back at the end of the program are powerful," Barnett said. "Their progress is amazing, and then they turn around and help us help other kids who are in their same situation."
“Being able to help fund a program such as this is exactly why we created our Patient Appreciation Week,” Dr. Anderson said. “The bonus is that our patients see how much we value their health as well as the well-being of their community. The response and generosity of our patients to this event has been tremendous.”
The week-long Patient Appreciation event also served as an educational platform to teach new patients at 360 Chiropractic about the value of chiropractic care. “We had seminars throughout the week about good spinal hygiene through proper exercising, stretching, lifting, posture and much more,” Dr. Anderson said. Other added attractions for the week included complimentary new patient exams and consultations, free computerized foot and MyoVision back scans, exercise and stretching demonstrations, nutritional supplement samples and Kid’s Day which focused on scoliosis screenings for children.
The official Patient Appreciation Day, which took place on Thursday, July 16, was for existing patients only. In addition to the complimentary adjustments, all patients were treated to a delicious grilled lunch; free chair massages provided by Rasmussen Business College massage therapy students, free foot scans and courtesy consultations with a foot stabilizer specialist. There were also several prizes including a 19” flat screen television, Foot Levelers stabilizers and deep tissue massage available to win.
360 Chiropractic will host their 8th Patient Appreciation Week in December, 2009, with proceeds again going to help the victims of domestic abuse at the Anna Marie House. If you would like to find out how to be involved, please call Kirsten Freeman, Community Relations Director, 360 Chiropractic, at (320) 257-0360.
If you would like more information, please call Dr. Jon Anderson, 360 Chiropractic, Sartell, (320) 257-0360 or e-mail him at jon1834@msn.com.
