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Gift of Life India targets 1,000 open heart surgeries
The US-based foundation has set a target of conducting free heart surgeries of about 1,000 kids, reports Lalit K Jha.
Having save the lives of at least 300 poor children in India – suffering from serious heart ailments – the US-based Gift of Life Foundation has now set a target of conducting free heart surgeries of about 1,000 needy children in the next one year.
"We want to save the lives of as many poor children suffering from serious heart ailments as we can," the chairman of Gift of Life India Foundation, Ravishankar Bhoolapur, told HindustanTimes.com.
With children being so dear to his heart, Bhoolapur, who came to the country in 1992 and got a job in an insurance company, founded the Foundation on November 14 2002, which happen to be the birthday of Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru and also observed as the Children's Day.
Bhoolapur, who always makes it a point to set aside a certain percentage of his income for donations and charitable activities, has so far donated $100,000 (Rs. 45 lakh) to the Foundation for conducting free open heart surgeries to the needy.
Within two years of its operation, the Foundation has spent nearly Rs. 2.5 crores for the open heart surgeries of poor children in various parts of India.
"Our mission is to provide medical care to those who are suffering from heart congenital disease and other ailments," Bhoolapur said.
Of late, the Gift of Life India Foundation has also started helping out the poor children in other third-world countries as well. However, the open heart surgeries of all these needy children from countries like Pakistan, Ghana and Uganda were carried out in hospitals of India.
"Many hospitals in India have the best medical and operation facilities of the world and so are our doctors," he said.
Bhoolapur said by doing so, the Foundation was trying to fulfill its mission to further the cause of world peace and understanding by facilitating free medical service to children, who otherwise can not access such services.
Among its patrons include several eminent personalities like the former Chief Justice of India, M. N. Venkatachalayya; the chief executive officer of ICICI Ltd., K. V. Kamath; and the editor-in-chief, The Hindu, N. Ram.
He said, the Foundation is working with different hospitals in India to treat children with heart disorders.
Prominent participating hospitals of the Foundation include KLE Hospital in Belgaum , Amrita Institute of Medical Sciences in Cochin; G. Kuppuswamy Naidu Hospital, K.G. Hospital, Kovai Medical Center and Ramakrishna Heart Foundation all in Coimbatore, and the Bhagwan Mahaveer Jain Hospital and Manipal Heart Foundation in Bangalore.
Bhoolapur said the Foundation collected money from various fund-raising activities, besides a large number of personal and corporate donations.
The Gift of Life India Foundation organizes an annual fund-raised dinner at New York, besides walk-a-thon and skate for life.
