Gift of Life, Inc, of Rotary District 7090 is one of GOLI’s 84 affiliated GOL programs spanning five continents. Our role is to provide the financial support needed to obtain the necessary equipment and materials needed for the surgery and for the pre and post operative procedures. Without our support, it would be difficult to establish pediatric cardiac centers in some countries and to provide surgical interventions in many other countries. Gift of Life is a true Rotary success story because the idea for it began with one Rotarian in Long Island. The goal for 2024 is to treat 5,000 children in just one year. Every day in the 80 plus countries where we work, there are 100 children waiting for surgery. Kids who will die without it.The Amherst Rotary club held a Wine and Appetizer Party on June 21st to benefit District 7090’s Gift of Life Project. Ursula Plotnicki chaired the event which was held at Addy’s Fine Wine and Spirits. The two-hour event netted $3700 which was donated to the District’s GOL. Assisted by Fiona Barretto-DeSouza, the well-attended function was judged a huge success. Fiona has the honor of being the first “” – a new designation. In this role she will be reminding her club of GOL as an integral part of their work.
Can you and your club help us to meet this goal? We are asking each club in our district to do its best to build into their annual budget a donation to GOL.
Please contact Cathy Herman, Canadian Co-Chair at dhenry1@cogeco.ca or Pat Castiglia, U.S. Co-Chair at ptcas34@hotmail.com to arrange club visits.
PHOTO: Ursula Plotnicki receiving a certificate of appreciation from Pat Castiglia, Co-President of our Gift of Life program.
The Amherst event is the first event sponsored by a Rotary Club to benefit Gift of Life on the U.S. side of the border. Several years ago, the Eastern Hills Club donated a large sum from their annual golf tournament. Several other charities benefitted from that event also. In past years, there have been some Canadian clubs that have held functions to benefit our only district project but nothing in recent years. It is hoped that other clubs will join in the effort to help us save children born with congenital heart problems in underdeveloped countries.
We should be proud that Gift of Life International (GOLI) has a 99% rating from Charity Navigator. There are only two paid staff for all of GOLI, the president and his assistant. Everyone else working to help these children is a volunteer. This includes teams of doctors, operating room and intensive care nurses, anesthesiologists, and nutritionists.
Even small clubs should be able to donate at least $100 and larger clubs could do more. Events like the Amherst event can help clubs to make larger donations by including people who are not Rotarians in their activity. GOL Board members are happy to make presentations to clubs to encourage them to actively participate. Please contact Cathy Herman, Canadian Co-Chair at dhenry1@cogeco.ca or Pat Castiglia, U.S. Co-Chair at ptcas34@hotmail.com to arrange club visits.
- Pat Castiglia