About us...
 

 

   The mission of Gift of Life is to further the cause of world peace and understanding by facilitating free medical services, primarily to children suffering from congenital heart defects and other similar or allied illnesses, regardless of race, gender, creed or national origin, and who would otherwise lack access to such services.

 

 

 

An estimated 860 cardiac surgical procedures per million of population are performed collectively in North America, Australia and Europe annually. Therefore, in an optimal environment every patient who needs cardiac surgery will be able to receive it. 

 In comparison, the average number of cardiac surgical procedures performed in South America, the Russian Federation, Asia and Africa is a mere 60 cases per million population. Of all the people living outside of North America, Europe and Australia who require life-saving open-heart surgery, only 7% will be able to have the procedure performed, which translates to approximately 93% or 4.5 billion people in the world have no access to cardiac surgery.

World Heart Foundation statistics.

Availability of Cardiac Care

 

 

 

 

 

 

About us
Since 1975 the Rotary-based Gift of Life movement has become a major force in providing cardiac care to the children who otherwise would have a dim future or none at all. Rotary District 7980 Gift of Life Foundation, a non-profit 501(c)(3) corporation,  for the past several years has focused it’s efforts and resources in support of pediatric cardiac outreach missions which provide care for kids and training for the medical professionals.
We work together with other Rotary clubs and
Gift of Life Districts, medical professionals,
hospital administrators, and non-profits organizations striving to achieve the same goal.
  

 

 

Over the past 33 years the Gift of Life movement has evolved to become a major force in providing cardiac care to the children who otherwise would not have access. The Gift of Life programs may vary between Rotary Clubs and Districts worldwide.

These programs include:

 

Gift of Life Programs

 

 

  

 

 
These programs offer five distinct advantages over the single child hosting programs:
 
● Ability to provide quality cardiac care to far more children of the under served regions of the world thereby, furthering Rotary’s mission of peace through understanding.
 
● Provide the opportunity for Rotary District 7980  GOL organization to establish working partnerships with other Rotary GOL Districts, doctors specializing in cardiac care, medical professionals, hospital administrators, and non-profits NGO’s involved with providing cardiac services.
 
● Pool our respective resources to maximize the benefit from each donated dollar providing safe and cost effective manner cardiac care.
 
● Local medical professionals receive education/training pediatric cardiac surgical techniques, the use of new medications, diagnostic procedures and pre-post operative care management to improve overall cardiac care.
 
● Significant medical and cultural education and experience is gain by the visiting medical teams from the local peoples of the region visited.
                       
Outreach Medical Missions   Teams of medical professionals and Rotarians (on occasion) volunteer their time and often pay their own expenses to travel to developing countries to perform life saving heart surgery. These are medical teams ideally are comprised of a Pediatric Cardiac Surgeon, Pediatric Anesthesiologist, Pediatric Intensivist, Pediatric Critical Care Nurses, and Pediatric Cardiologist. The teams are often made up of highly trained medical professionals from around the world, creating a true international effort. The incoming medical professionals join the local medical staff to provide a 24/7 working team Pediatric Cardiac Care team who will provide 12-25 children with life-saving cardiac surgical procedures during the two week mission.
 

Regional Surgical Hubs   This concept is the newest and most exciting GOL program. This program involves the establishment and support of a permanent medical facility or department within an existing hospital that will provides life saving heart surgery to the poorest of the poor children in several global locations, on-going training of medical professionals. The Regional Surgical Hubs are supported by Outreach Medical Mission teams on a regular basis. The long-term objective is to prepare to the facility to function independently.

 

Medical Outreach Missions and Regional Surgical Hubs

 

 

 

 

 

 

 
their native country
Rotary Gift of Life organizations can act as a resource to guide and arrange for medical care in the country in which the child lives through their worldwide network Rotarians, medical professionals and organizations involved in humanitarian mission work.

 

  

 

 

 

Sponsoring and Hosting

  
An individual child requiring open-heart surgery is sponsored and hosted within a Rotary's geographic districts. This program has been the mainstay of Gift of Life and will continue to be in many Rotary Clubs and Districts.

 

  

 

Contact Us
 
Email
Gift of Life
Fax

203-333-2681
Snail Mail
Rotary District 7980 Gift of Life Foundation
P.O. Box 602
Shelton, CT 06484 USA

Links

  International Children's Heart Foundation