Former NFL quarterback Tim Tebow recently opened the doors of a pediatric hospital in the Philippines.
“I was born in the Philippines while my parents served as missionaries, and I have always had a great love and passion for the Filipino people,” said Tim Tebow, founder of the Tim Tebow Foundation. “It is so exciting to be able to provide healing and care for these incredibly deserving children halfway around the world.”
The hospital is designed to treat children whose parents are unable to afford the treatment necessary for their severe orthopedic conditions.
The Tim Tebow Foundation announced their plans to build the Tebow CURE Hospital in 2011 during Tebow’s second season with the Denver Broncos. The project officially broke ground in January 2012 with construction being completed in September 2014. The hospital is now fully equipped and has received its official operating license from the Philippines Department of Health.
The Tim Tebow Foundation helped raise the $3 million to fund construction and staffing.
While health services began in mid-December, the official grand opening won’t be until spring of 2015. The Tebow CURE Hospital will treat clubfoot, bowed legs, cleft palate and other congenital limb abnormalities among impoverished Filipinos who otherwise would not receive any treatment.
“These are simple procedures we take for granted in the U.S.,” said Erik Dellenback, executive director of the Tim Tebow Foundation, in a statement.
“The reality is that we hope to show people in the Philippines that there is faith, hope and love out there. We want to show that the Western world cares about them and that they’re not a deserted nation,” said Dellenback.
The 6’3” 236-pound quarterback led the Denver Broncos to the AFC West title in 2011.
Tebow’s football career began earlier when he became the first college sophomore to win the Heisman Trophy in 2007 with the University of Florida Gators.
In 2008 he led the Gators to a national championship, leading the team to a 13-1 record that year. In 2009 he set Southeastern Conference all-time records for career passing efficiency and total rushing touchdowns.
During both his NCAA and NFL careers Tebow was very transparent about his Christian faith, often praying on the field and visually displaying Bible references.
In December 2013, Tebow began serving as a college football analyst for ESPN after being cut by the New England Patriots before the beginning of the 2013 season.
Tebow expressed his excitement about the opening of the new facility, which he prays will be a blessing to underprivileged and afflicted children in the nation of his birth.
“It is so exciting to be able to provide healing and care for these incredibly deserving children halfway around the world,” Tebow proclaimed when the Tebow CURE Hospital opened its doors for the first time.
The hospital was built by CURE International, a Christian non-profit dedicated to providing medical help to some of the poorest people in the world.
“Even though medical infrastructure is available in many parts of the Philippines, these children and their families are so poor they can never hope to afford the type of care needed,” said CURE’s CFO Mark Knecht in a statement. “Access to Tim’s high-profile platform will allow us to heal more kids and impact more lives than ever before.”
In addition to lending his fame to CURE, Tebow supports more than 40 Filipino evangelistic efforts in the archipelago.