GIFT OF LIFE HISTORY & CHINESE GIFT OF LIFE
THE GIFT OF LIFE PROGRAM began in 1975 and today is supported by many Rotary Districts world-wide. Its primary purpose is to help needy children secure another lease on life through the miracle of open-heart surgery in a Gift of Life participating hospital in the U.S.A. and Canada.
The Program reaches children throughout the world, including the United States. It is essentially a nonprofit, tax-exempt corporation whose Board of Directors and members are Rotarians.
The concept of the Program began in 1974 when the Manhasset, NY Rotary Club responded to a request for help from the Kampala Rotary Club in Uganda. The response brought five-year old Grace Agwaru on a 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 small hole between the two lower chambers of her heart.
ROTARY GIFT OF LIFE was born and what began as a simple response to help one small girl from a far away country has developed into a dynamic world-wide movement involving thousands of Rotarians and their families, but also countless people from other community-based service and fraternal organizations and numerous ethnic community groups. All are united with the primary objective of providing the "Gift of Life" to more than 1,000 children from over 30 countries who have followed Grace Agwaru since 1974.
The Rotary Club of Shanghai started its local Gift of life program in May 2001. Since then, it has attracted supports from Rotary Clubs and charity organization worldwide, particularly the District 7250 Gift of Life in New York, District 7490 Gift of Life in Jersey City, and District 7070 & 7090 Gift of Life in Canada. All three parties together have raised funds and saved over 50 children at the Shanghai Chest Hospital, where the open heart surgeries were successfully performed.
According to the China Daily, there are over 300,000 children with congenital heart defects in China. So the need to support is tremendous. It is our hope that you all can help so that the Gift of Life project can be sustain in China in the years to come.

3/30/2009 1:21 PM to 12/30/2009 2:21 PM

LanZhou, GanSu, China

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