EAST news | 2018 Issue 3 10 Donor Stories The mission of EAST focuses on providing opportunities for leadership development for young trauma surgeons through interdisciplinary collaboration, scholarship, and fellowship. I strongly believe that leadership and scholarship complement each other. By supporting young trauma surgeons in becoming scholars, EAST affects patient care, allowing researchers to take controlled risks when asking the burning questions in our field. There are many scientific advances that come directly from our organization, either as a result of EAST’s scholarships, trauma prevention programs, guidelines, or multicenter trials. I strongly believe that together we have been able to enact positive change and improve patient outcomes. For trainees and surgeons in their early careers, it’s important to get involved because this is your chance to grow academically and create relationships that will last a lifetime. For mid-career and senior surgeons, EAST creates the perfect environment to be a mentor, sponsor, and guide, creating the opportunity to help others be the best that they can be. It is important to donate to EAST so that we can keep all these projects going. Investing in our youth will ensure a better future. Thank you to EAST’s Individual Donors! Many individuals have made generous contributions to support EAST initiatives in research, injury control and violence prevention, community outreach, education, and leadership development and have set a wonderful example of supporting the mission of EAST by donating to the EAST Development Fund. We thank them for their support and welcome you to read why they choose to support the EAST Development Fund. To read other donor stories, please visit our website. Paula Ferrada, MD, FACS Virginia Commonwealth University