Terri McColan spoke about Finn's extraordinary progress.  He is an 18 month old child from Nevada County, who was born with a genetic disorder called Apert Syndrome.. He was born with premature fusion of certain skull bones which prevent the skull from growing normally which affects the shape of the head and face. He was also born with an underdeveloped jaw and cleft palate. He has had 6 surgeries to date. One surgery was to correct a narrowing of the passageway from the back side of the nose to the throat. This was necessary so that Finn could breathe through his nose. Another surgery was orbital distractor placement (which pulls the bones apart in his skull), removing some bone from above his eyes, and an external midface distraction. His fingers and toes are webbed therefore needing surgeries for each finger one at a time to be repaired.

Terrie has been working with Finn since December of 2008. She works a lot with toys he can learn through playing with. Due to his cleft palate and underdeveloped upper jaw, she works a lot with his lip movements, and language stimulation. He now can walk and say some words which will continue to improve with time.

With all these distractions and discomforts, Terrie tells us that Finn is an energetic fun loving child. He has very supportive parents Shannon and Mark and older siblings Molly and Nate.  All those who encounter Finn say that he is a complete joy to be around. We at Grass Valley Elks' Lodge #538 are proud to help such an amazing, courageous child.

                                   Keep up the good work Finn !!  

Elk donations to the Purple Pig help to support Finn's care and many other kids in Finn's situation throughout California and Hawaii. We owe a world of thanks to the BINGO players, to Our Members, Volunteers,  Event Attendee's and Guest's, and to the Community who supports the Elks' State Project, known throughout the land as "The Purple Pig". And to our Lodge for their continued and heavy support of our Purple Pig project.