Physician Assistant to Bike 4,300 Miles to Help Migrant Farmworkers

D. Cristopher Benner, PA-C, MMSc. of McLean, Virginia, to raise awareness of health issues of Migrant Farm Workers http://www.emorypa.org/news.htm

McLEAN, VA (PRWEB) March 15, 2004 --A McLean physician assistant (PA) gets ready to start a 4,300 bike ride across the United States to raise awareness about the dramatic health situation of migrant farmworkers across the United States.

D. Cristopher Benner, a graduate of Emory University's graduate Physician Assistant program, James Madison University and McLean High School, starts his long ride this summer immediately after completing volunteer work with Emory University's South Georgia Farmworker Health Project, a unique program that addresses the health needs of nearly 2000 migrant farmworkers in the state of Georgia every year.

"The apple you just snacked on, the peach you enjoyed with breakfast, the tomatoes on your salad, these and hundreds of other fruits and vegetables represent the labor and toil of thousands of migrant farmworkers."

These folks, men and women, work under extremely difficult circumstances and their health suffers; they have serious health issues that need help," Mr. Benner says.

What Mr. Benner and Emory University hope to achieve this summer is to increase the national level of awareness about the migrant farmworker plight and raise funds for equipment, clothing and medicine to benefit the migrant farmworkers and their children.

It is estimated that more than three million migrant and seasonal farmworkers in the United States travel throughout the country serving as the backbone for a $28 billion agricultural industry. Without their invaluable help, crops would have to be destroyed or never planted.

In addition to low wages, poor housing and dismal working situations, migrant farmworkers rarely have access to health insurance or other health benefits.

Mr. Benner will be self-funding his ride. All donated funds will go directly to Emory University's South Georgia Farmworker Health Project. Mr. Benner has worked with Emory's unique migrant farmworker project as a physician assistant, and says he was overwhelmed about the workers health problems: tuberculosis, lung and skin disorders from exposures to pesticides, hearing and vision disorders from overexposure to sun and industrial noises, unimmunized children of farmworkers and lack of prenatal care for the women.

"Many of their ailments are easily treated and preventable," he adds, "It just takes a caring person and money to buy the right medicine and educational materials."

Contact: D. Cristopher Benner, PA-C, MMSc.
Phone: (571) 217-2931
Email: cdbenner1@yahoo.com
http://www.emorypa.org/news.htm