Local Physician Honored for Service to the Poor

By Irene Lagan
Herald Staff Writer
(From the issue of 5/22/03)

Known to some as "God’s Scrounger" for his ability to collect food and medical supplies for the poor, Dr. Gilbert Irwin, a Manassas physician, was honored last week for his pioneering work as a medical missionary. Fellow physician Dr. John McAveney introduced his colleague, and Brent Society Moderator Father James R. Gould, pastor of St. Raymond of Penafort Parish in Fairfax Station, presented him with the 2003 Brent Award for Distinguished Service at the annual Brent Society Dinner held in Tysons Corner.

Irwin, a member of All Saints Parish in Manassas, is the founder of Medical Missionaries, an organization dedicated to providing medical care to the poor in developing countries. The Brent Award for Distinguished Service was instituted in 1976 by then-Arlington Bishop Thomas J. Welsh to honor those who integrate service to others with an "historical perspective of the Catholic Church in Virginia."

Beginning in 1997, Irwin began ministering to the health needs of the poor in the Dominican Republic and Haiti. After receiving a letter requesting help from Father Donald J. Rooney, then-pastor of the Arlington Diocese’s mission parish in Banica, Irwin led a small team of doctors and nurses to the Dominican Republic to deliver much needed health care. In two weeks, Irwin and his cohorts vaccinated over 2,300 children, extracted hundreds of teeth and administered basic health care to hundreds of villagers living in the bush. When the team returned to Manassas two weeks later, they decided to continue the medical mission and to expand their activities to include Haiti.

In a few short years, what began as a volunteer effort on the part of parishioners at All Saints Parish has blossomed into a non-profit organization whose services extend as far as Afghanistan, Vietnam, Uzbekistan, Tajikistan, Africa and poor areas in the United States.

In addition to sending medical teams and supplies to needy areas, the Medical Missionaries collect food, clothing and medical equipment to distribute to the needy locally and internationally. The group currently houses donated goods in 10 trailers on the grounds of the St. Benedict Monastery in Bristow. The organization, which is still based in Manassas and run entirely by volunteers, coordinates some of its efforts with other groups throughout the Unites States that serve the poor here and abroad. For example, the Medical Missionaries help support nine medical clinics and three orphanages in Afghanistan, and a leper colony in Vietnam. Locally, the Medical Missionaries collaborate with So Others Might Eat (SOME) in Washington, D.C., Caring and Sharing in Southwest Virginia and Kentucky and work with children who suffer from brain damage in Northern Virginia. In addition, Irwin said the group often donates medical supplies to underinsured patients.

According to Irwin, the group is overwhelmed by requests for assistance and needs more volunteers. Within the last month, he said, they shipped over 100 tons of medical supplies to Africa, the Dominican Republic, Haiti and Jamaica.

Before accepting his award, Irwin asked 70 Medical Missionary volunteers who were present at the dinner to stand and be recognized. "What we are doing is only a small pebble on the beach of what needs to be done," said Irwin. "One of our big problems is raising awareness and in getting additional help. We have already touched the lives of millions of people, but we need to keep going."

Others who received awards at the dinner included Delegate Richard Black, R-32nd, and Dr. Robert Kling, an ophthalmologist from Falls Church. In recognition for their respective pro-life efforts, Joseph Strada, a member of the Brent Society Board of Directors, presented both men with the Militantis Ecclesiae Miles Award for faithful service to the Church in the world.

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