After returning from one of his many medical missions to impoverished countries to provide surgical care for children, Jack Demos creates a scrapbook documenting the trip.

When he had his active plastic surgery practice on the North Side, he'd leave the scrapbooks on tables in the waiting room for his patients to peruse. They'd be so inspired by the little miracles performed on thousands of children by his organization, Surgicorps International, that they'd end up donating to his cause, said a friend and one of his longtime volunteers, Dave Fortun.

"Our mission is to provide free medical and surgical care to people in need in developing countries," said Dr. Demos, 62, of Fox Chapel, who founded Surgicorps International in 1994. "That's basically the groundwork for the organization."

Volunteers have made more than 40 trips abroad to correct cleft lips and palates and other deformities in children.

Dr. Demos is one of seven finalists for Most Outstanding Volunteer of the Year for the 2009 Jefferson Award for Public Service. Finalists will be honored at a dinner Thursday, when the winner will be announced. The winner will go on to represent Western Pennsylvania in the National Jefferson Awards program in Washington, D.C., this summer.

The program is administered locally by the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette with sponsorship by Highmark, The Pittsburgh Foundation and The Heinz Endowments.

Dewey & Kaye will donate $1,000 to Surgicorps International on Dr. Demos' behalf.

Since its start, Surgicorps International volunteers have gone to 15 countries -- including recent trips to Vietnam and Guatemala -- and treated more than 3,000 patients.

On Feb. 12 -- the day after the awards ceremony -- Surgicorps volunteers head to Ethiopia, where they will perform surgeries and provide other care through Feb. 21.

The trips have changed for the better Dr. Demos' attitude toward life and how he views the world.

"It's made me appreciate my life, the health of my children, my grandchildren," he said. "I get as much if not more out of these trips than I really give."

Dr. Demos, who retired from private practice 11/2 years ago, became involved in medical missions first through other organizations, during which he visited Nigeria and the Philippines.

Recognizing that these two countries did not hold a monopoly on problems, he decided to make sure his organization would help people spanning the globe.

"I thought to myself there are many different Nigerias and many different Philippines all over the world."

Volunteers with Surgicorps are not just doctors. Some go to help with record keeping, caring for children and to perform other simple jobs.

Mr. Fortun met Dr. Demos when he was the coach of his sons' soccer team in Fox Chapel. Since 1995, he's gone on 10 missions and is thankful to Dr. Demos for extending him the opportunity.

"To be able to help people in Third World countries which I would have never gone to ... has opened my eyes to what world health care [is like]," he said.

But it isn't only nonmedical volunteers who are enamored with Dr. Demos and his work.

Paul Kim, a surgeon based in Philadelphia, has gone on a number of missions through Surgicorps. He noted the amazing things that Dr. Demos has done, especially considering he largely funds the organization himself.

"To me, Jack embodies everything that young medical students should aspire to," he said. "To help the sick, and not for monetary gains."

One of the most rewarding parts of the trips, according to Dr. Demos, is getting to experience different cultures.

Although he has always enjoyed taking traditional vacations around the globe, he said that participating in his Surgicorps missions has been the only way to really understand other cultures and how people live.

"It's made me realize that people are the same no matter where you go," he said.

One of the most important revelations, he said, has been that no matter what country he is in, parents want the same things for their children: normalcy, good health and education.

Linda Esposto, Surgicorps' executive director since 2008, said Dr. Demos is a natural at connecting with people of radically different circumstances.

"He has the medical skill," she said. "But he [also] has the secondary skill to see the family members and the patient and treat them in a respectable and compassionate way, and he can do it across cultures."

Outside of medicine, Dr. Demos is an avid gardener of vegetables and flowers. He also enjoys racquet sports, especially tennis. He's married and has three grown children and three grandchildren.

At his core, though, is a desire to help people.

Dr. Demos and Mr. Fortun share an affinity for a quote from John Wooden, legendary basketball coach at UCLA: "You can't live a perfect day without doing something for someone who will never be able to repay you."

Mr. Fortun, who nominated Dr. Demos for the Jefferson award, believes Dr. Demos lives up to that idea.

"There's not a day that goes by, I'm sure, that he doesn't do something for somebody."

You can find out more about Surgicorps at www.surgicorps.org or by calling 412-767-4185.

Doug Oster writes a blog, "Growing With Doug," exclusively at PG+, a members-only web site of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. Our introduction to PG+ gives you all the details.