Special Thanks to Gift of Life Talent Showcase Volunteers, Performers, Sponsors and Community Supporters

You did it!!! You gave of your heart and, because you did, 20-25 children in the Dominican Republic will have their hearts repaired this November. These children would not have access to the medical care they need to survive were it not for this surgical mission.

It was with great pride that The Rotary Club of The Caldwells presented a check for $30,354 to the International Children’s Heart Foundation (ICHF) as the sole sponsors of this pediatric cardiology and surgical training mission. The ICHF responded immediately, assembling a team of volunteer medical professionals from around the world that will perform the surgeries and train local staff at the Hospital Infantil Universitario so that care can continue to be provided long after they’ve gone home.

The mission is scheduled for November 5-19, 2011. The lead surgeon will be Dr. Rodrigo Soto from Santiago, Chile. Other teams members will be coming from Chile, Sweden and the United Kingdom, as well as from Ohio, Virginia, Illinois, Iowa, North Carolina and California. Initial screening of the patients will be done by local cardiologist and Rotarian, Dr. Juan Ramirez, who will send a list of potential candidates for surgery to ICHF. When the surgical team arrives, Dr. Ramirez will call the patients in to be screened by the ICHF team and surgeries will be scheduled and performed.

By unselfishly giving of yourself, you have truly given these children “The Gift of Life”. We cannot possibly thank you enough for all you have done to make this mission possible.

You can learn more about Gift of Life at www.giftoflifeinternational.org. And, you can learn more about The Rotary Club of the Caldwells at www.caldwellrotary.org and about Rotary International at www.rotary.org. You have an open invitation to be our guest at one of our Tuesday lunch meetings so you can meet our members and see what Rotary is all about. We are always looking for new members who, like you, are committed to “Service Above Self”.

All our best,

The RCC Gift of Life Committee

Penny, June, Christy, Dianne, Tim, Geetha, Scott, Marco and April