Santo Domingo.- Courier Connection of the U.S. reports a local chiropractor and her staff will leave Biddeford for a five-day mission trip to give chiropractic care to local villagers in the Dominican Republic in October. 

“Dr. Ellie Rolnick of Rolnick Chiropractic in Biddeford and her assistants, Pam Gaudette and Doreen Dube, will join up with other doctors and volunteers from ChiroMission, an organization that offers chiropractic services in third world countries. Dube said while the group is there, doctors will provide free chiropractic care to villagers who cannot afford healthcare,” said Courier Connection.

Dube said it’s the first year taking part in the effort. “We’ll be there to give a hug and a smile, spend two days helping out in the community, and then on the last day we will have a social get-together.” 

ChiroMission President, CEO and Co-Founder Dr. J.C. Doornick, said the goal of the organization is to promote chiropractic care throughout the world, particularly in third world countries, where resources are limited. ChiroMission’s other goal is to generate interest in the field and recruit students.

The Maine based publication notes that the non-profit organization helps raise funds for people to gain access to items like food, shelter and clothing. Doornick, whose practice is located in Westchester, N.Y., is an executive board member of the New York Chiropractic Council and was appointed one of the team chiropractors for the New York Rangers of the National Hockey League in 2005. 

“On the first couple of trips we were just three doctors armed with faith, love and courage, Doornick said, we traveled to countries like the Dominican Republic and Haiti and just went door to door volunteering our safe and natural services primarily to help people with general aches and pains even though we knew the premise of chiropractic is to remove stress and interference from the nervous system so that the body can reach a higher state of health and care as it should. We got real busy, real fast.”

Quoted by Courier Connection, Doornick said more people are volunteering with ChiroMission.  “Apparently it is something many people want as we now take upwards of 120 doctors and chiropractic students. Also joining us now are volunteers, spouses, children of participants, etcetera.”

Rolnick and her staff are collecting pencils, colored pencils, Band-Aids and bandages for children in the orphanages and churches in the area. People who would like to donate items are asked to drop them off at Rolnick’s office, located at 413 Alfred Street in Biddeford. For monetary donations, checks may be made out to ChiroMission Foundation, and also be dropped off at Rolnick’s office said Courier Connection. “I look forward to caring for these people who would otherwise never have the benefit of a chiropractic adjustment.”

“It’s people like Dr. Ellie Rolnick, Doreen Dube and Pam Gaudette of Rollnick Chiropractic in Biddeford that make us realize that there are so many people in this beloved country that realize that they already have everything they need and in fact feel compelled to give back,” Doornick said.

Doornick also said volunteers do not need to be chiropractors in order to attend mission trips.“Anybody can come as long as they have a proactive and preventative approach to healthcare. Anybody that comes on our trips find out how much they have to give back where they used to find themselves wanting and needing more. This experience helps people become better people,” he said to Courier Connection.