De­cem­ber 5 was a day filled with a mix­ture of emo­tions for the Birch Fam­i­ly. Sad­ness as they pon­dered up­on the two years since they lost their son, broth­er and friend Aaron Birch. And hap­pi­ness be­cause they were hold­ing a Christ­mas par­ty in his ho­n­our in the hope the self-ti­tled foun­da­tion could raise an aware­ness of the dis­ease that snatched his life away.

On De­cem­ber 9, 2008, Aaron died ap­prox­i­mate­ly two months af­ter Bac­te­r­i­al Menin­gi­tis reared its ug­ly head in the life of the bril­liant 19-year-old, and it was out of this tragedy the Aaron Birch Foun­da­tion was born. The foun­da­tion held its first Christ­mas treat at its Ari­ma base, and in­vit­ed 24 chil­dren from with­in the Mal­abar Com­mu­ni­ty to par­tic­i­pate in games, treats, and sto­ries.

The high­light of the par­ty for many was the ar­rival of Ghet­to San­ta, (pro­nounced G Toe San­ta), which was played by this re­porter. He ar­rived in a red pick-up with a bag filled with gifts pro­vid­ed by the foun­da­tion. Ear­li­er this year, founder of the foun­da­tion and Aaron's moth­er, Joanne Birch, es­tab­lished its main thrust–the Book Spon­sor­ship Project. Sev­en pupils from the Mal­abar RC Pri­ma­ry School were pro­vid­ed with some of the nec­es­sary tools for en­trance in­to the sec­ondary lev­el of their ed­u­ca­tion.

Menin­gi­tis is an in­fec­tion of the flu­id in the spinal cord, and the flu­id that sur­rounds the brain. It is usu­al­ly caused by an in­fec­tion with a virus or a bac­teri­um. Know­ing whether it was caused by a virus or a bac­teri­um is im­por­tant be­cause of dif­fer­ences in the se­ri­ous­ness of the ill­ness and the treat­ment need­ed.

Bac­te­r­i­al Menin­gi­tis is much more se­ri­ous, be­cause it can re­sult in brain dam­age if not treat­ed on time, and as in the case of Birch, it can cause death.For fur­ther in­for­ma­tion on the Aaron Birch Foun­da­tion, con­tact the pres­i­dent at 667-6711 or 366-8718.