Butterfly Ball raises $140,000 for Fresh Start

COAST CITIES — Fresh Start Surgical Gifts hosted its 17th annual Butterfly Ball in November with the theme “A Broadway Melody” at the Hotel Del Coronado, raising over $140,000 to provide free reconstructive surgery for children with physical deformities.
Fresh Start patient Lupita Juvera, a 22-year-old college student, spoke about her experience of living with a deformity and her transformation through the hands of Fresh Start’s compassionate volunteers. Every six weeks, Lupita attends Fresh Start’s “Surgery Weekends” in San Diego, and to date, has received over $95,000 worth of free medical services. After nearly seven years as a Fresh Start patient, Lupita is nearing the end of her transformation and only has a few laser treatments remaining to diminish scarring on her face.
“The Butterfly Ball is so important to the hundreds of children that receive free surgery from Fresh Start,” Shari T. Brasher, executive director of Fresh Start, said. “We have a foundation that pays for all overhead costs, so 100 percent of the donations received at the gala go directly to our medical program to help make children’s wishes come true.”