Gift of Life-Gift of Life District 7230, Westchester, NY

District 7230 Rotary Gift of Life. Inc.
info@giftoflife7230.org
2500 Johnson Ave - 15K
Phone: 718 548-5859 - Fax: 718-548-7087

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The Rotary Gift of Life project is available to children with life threatening congenital heart defects, regardless of race, color or national origin. The program reaches children throughout the world.

HOW IT ALL STARTED

The concept of the Program began in 1974 when the Manhasset Rotary Club, in Long Island, New York responded to a request for help from the Kampala Rotary Club in Uganda. Five-year old Grace Agwaru arrived to the United States after a grueling 5,000 mile journey from Uganda to Roslyn, NY. On November 15, 1974 she underwent a very successful four hour open-heart surgical procedure to close a hole between the two lower chambers of her small heart at St. Francis Hospital, Roslyn, NY.

Since that date, over 1500 children from over thirty countries throughout the world, including the United States, have been given another lease on life through the miracle of open heart surgery by the generosity of Rotary members and hundreds of volunteers, plus the doctors, nurses and staffs of participating hospitals.

In 1994, the Eastchester Rotary Club, spearheaded by member Dan Nalven, with the help of Dr. Michael Gewitz, chief of the Pediatrics at New York Medical College met with and convinced the officials of the Westchester County Medical Center to become a participating hospital. Since then 20 children from Russia, El Salvador, Kenya, Belarus, Siberia, Ukraine, Dominican Republic, China and Colombia have benefited from surgery at the Medical Center and have returned to their homelands healthy, happy children with a lease on a new, long life.

GIFT OF LIFE is now a project of participating clubs of Rotary District 7230 and many have either donated funds, or more importantly, become sponsors for arriving children.

Rye Rotary has hosted 3 children, Elmsford 3, Quad Village 3, Valhalla 3, Eastchester, 2; and Pelham, Yonkers, White Plains, Hawthorne, Bronxville, Hartsdale, Ossining, Larchmont, Chinatown one each. Usually the children and their Mom stay a three week period on our shores. The success of the program is due to its humanitarian appeal, its person-to-person contact and the medical profession, host families and volunteers who have all generously given their time and services to provide these children, our future ambassadors of goodwill, with the gift of good health.

For further information on the Rotary Gift of Life Inc. and how you can be part of it,
e-mail us at: info@giftoflife7230 or call us/fax to: (941) 631-7764

District 7230 Rotary Gift of Life. Inc.
info@giftoflife7230.org
2500 Johnson Ave - 15K
Phone: 718 548-5859 - Fax: 718-548-7087