David Rosenblum

Health Aid for Disadvantaged Children: Woodstock, NY couple mobilizes local community

When Dr. David Rosenblum and his wife Elizabeth Lewis, a social worker, traveled to Cuba two years ago, they were appalled by the sad state of medical treatment all Cubans, but especially children, were receiving. Dirty syringes were being reused and unnecessary amputations were taking place. In Haiti, just 700 miles away, children were suffering from rampant malnutrition. Rosenblum decided he had to do something.

Inspired by a Landmark Education course in New York City, Rosenblum formed the Children's Health Cooperative, a group of local Woodstock, NY health practitioners and concerned businesspeople who are passionate about helping disadvantaged children meet their most basic nutritional requirements. Its immediate goal? To supply 3,000 third-world orphans with enough vitamins for one year.

With generous donations from small suppliers and pharmacies, almost 5,000 bottles of vitamins have been delivered to children in Haiti and more than 10,000 bottles to Mexico. In its first nine months, the Children's Health Cooperative distributed more than 1 million vitamins to children in need. Haitian children got protein bars this Christmas, and desperately needed medical journals have gone to the neediest Cuban communities.

Rosenblum credits Landmark's community-based program for the inspiration and motivation behind Children's Health Cooperative. "It takes ordinary individuals to make a difference," he says. "Part of the process is really to share your commitment with people in such a way that moves them to act."

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