Community

The doctors and staff at the Fertility Center look for ways to get involved in the community and give back to the very families who've helped build the practice. Service isn't an obligation or a show but rather an integral part of who we are and why we are here. As our team is led to people in need, we simply respond with compassion and action. God has blessed all of us in many ways, so it is natural to pass those gifts along to others.


HOPE FOR TORNADO VICTIMS
On April 27, 2011, tornadoes ripped through Alabama, Georgia, Mississippi and Tennessee, killing hundreds of people. More were injured, and many are now homeless and in desperate need of help. Employees of the Fertility Center are partnering with local organizations such as HOPE (Helping Others and Providing Encouragement) and the Samaritan Center to assist the victims particularly in Apison and Ringgold that have been affected by these devastating storms. In addition to making meals and cutting trees, staff families collected non-perishable food items, bottled water, toiletries and cleaning supplies. Many patients made donations as well, and all gifts were transported to areas of need.




WALK A MILE IN HER SHOES
Dr. Bird along with the spouses and friends of several Fertility Center employees donned high heels to join the men's mile march around downtown Coolidge Park in April 2011 to help raise awareness of sexual violence in the Greater Chattanooga area. More than $10,500 was raised for the Sexual Assault Center, which is the only rape crisis facility in the city.

 

SERVING HIS CHILDREN
Instead of buying holiday gifts for each other, the Fertility Center team chooses a local person or family to contribute to each Christmas. Bethany Thomason, daughter of Deborah in our lab, served for three months (April through July 2011) in Uganda, Africa, to help fight malnutrition and hunger as a volunteer with Serving His Children. The doctors and staff gave more than $1,000 towards Bethany's travel expenses, supplies and other costs for her trip. To read more about her story and experiences, click here for the Bethany's Blessings blogspot.

 

RUNWAY FOR HOPE
The Fertility Center signed on as one of the select partners sponsoring Hair Benders Internationale's runway fashion show in March 2011 with all ticket proceeds benefitting the Austin Hatcher Foundation for Pediatric Cancer. The sold-out event netted nearly $100,000 to support research towards the diagnosis, treatment and development of a cure for pediatric cancer. The foundation's mission also includes providing support and hope to children and families undergoing treatment as well as to those who have lost children to cancer.

 

CHATTANOOGA AFRICAN-AMERICAN MUSEUM
Dr. Bird currently serves as a new board member
for the museum, which is housed in the Bessie Smith Cultural Center along with a performance hall on Martin Luther King Boulevard in downtown Chattanooga. The mission of "The Bessie" includes becoming the premier interdisciplinary cultural center in the area, promoting cultural, educational and artistic excellence while fostering research and education of African and African-American heritage and providing a venue that allows the community to celebrate through education, art and entertainment.


REBEKAH DAVIS ST. JUDE CAR SHOW
Each August, the Fertility Center sponsors a trophy for the annual car, bike and truck show in nearby Ft. Oglethorpe, Georgia, held in honor of the late sister of the clinic's massage therapist Rachel. Rebekah lost her childhood battle with a rare form of leukemia in 1991 at the age of 10. All proceeds are donated in her memory to benefit St. Jude Children's Research Hospital in Memphis and the work of finding cures and saving children.

 

TEAM GREENE
For the 2009 Christmas season, the families of the Fertility Center doctors and staff collected around $500 to share with Riley Green, the only son of Chattanooga parents Joel and Teresa. After suffering a gran mal seizure, Riley at age six was diagnosed with two incredibly rare diseases - Addison’s and the more severe Adrenoleukodystrophy (ALD). Aggressive treatment at Duke University’s Children’s Hospital included chemotherapy followed by a bone marrow transplant. Donations to the family helped cover medical bills as well as travel and lodging expenses while away from home.

 

OTHERS CAUSES
Individually, Fertility Center employees donate their time in a variety of ways, including: 

  • Giving to local blood banks.
  • Donating hair to Locks of Love.
  • Helping with Special Olympics.
  • Caring for animals, maintaining aquatic environments and educating visitors as a volunteer scuba diver at the Tennessee Aquarium in downtown Chattanooga.