Care Without Borders Powered By Shriners: Donor and Temple Support Helps Deliver Hope and Healing in Cyprus
A Shriners Children's provider holds a toy while standing at a patient's bedside at a Shriners Children's outreach clinic in Cyprus.
In 2025, three young girls suffered severe burns in a fuel tanker explosion in a refugee camp in Syria. They needed specialized care for significant burn injuries – care that is now within reach thanks to Shriners Children’s clinical outreach in Cyprus and the generosity of donors.
As demand for care has grown, Shriners Children’s teams recognized that additional visits to Cyprus would be needed to meet the need. But expanding the outreach required additional funding.
That’s when an anonymous donor and two Shriners chapters – Ballut Abyad Shriners in Albuquerque, New Mexico, and Kena Shriners in Manassas, Virginia – stepped forward with generous support. Their contributions helped make it possible for nearly 200 children to be examined, treated, fitted with prosthetics and scheduled for life-changing surgeries.
Shriners Children’s has been providing care in Cyprus for nearly four decades, serving children across the Eastern Mediterranean where access to pediatric specialty care is limited. Building on this longstanding presence, Shriners Children’s clinicians began performing orthopedic, spine and reconstructive burn surgeries in 2023 – including procedures for upper and lower extremities and scoliosis.
A mother (left) sits with her child and a Shriners Children's provider (right) at a Shriners Children's outreach clinic in Cyprus.
Shriners Children’s New England was the first to provide outreach in Cyprus and participation has since expanded to include teams from Shriners Children’s Philadelphia, Greenville, Chicago, Portland and Northern California, as well as home office leaders. Patients have come from nine different countries, including Egypt, Greece, Lebanon, Turkey and Syria, to receive care closer to home than previously available.
“Providing care in places like Cyprus allows us to reach children who might otherwise go without,” said Shriners Children’s Chairman of the Board of Trustees Leslie D. Stewart, M.D. “It’s a powerful reflection of who we are – Shriners coming together to ensure every child, no matter where they live, has access to life-changing care. And delivering treatment closer to home not only eases the burden on families but also allows us to use our resources wisely.”
To date, the outreach has provided care to more than 16,000 children and helped thousands more travel to the United States for advanced treatment. In recent years, Shriners Children’s teams have also expanded the care they provide in Cyprus, performing more complex procedures locally at Archbishop Makarios III Hospital in Nicosia and offering education programs for local physicians and nurses.
The impact is both immediate and lasting. The three girls injured in the explosion will return to Cyprus for reconstructive surgeries, receiving ongoing care that will help restore function and improve their quality of life.
“It is so much easier for the kids and families to be seen in Cyprus,” said Pam King Sams, a fundraising consultant for Shriners Children’s Office of Philanthropy. “We will continue to need generous donors to help us continue this work, knowing each donor helps us reach more children wherever they are.”
As the need continues to grow, so does the opportunity to make a difference. With the support of Shriners and donors, more children can receive the specialized care they need – bringing healing, hope and a healthier future within reach.
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