When Li Chengkai headed to New York to receive lifesaving open-heart surgery in October of last year, he could only speak in a whisper and his lips were purple from the lack of oxygen in his blood.

Seven weeks later, the 16-year-old came back with glowing eyes and a brilliant smile.

The teen, who was born with congenital heart disease to a poor farming family in north China’s Hebei Province, was able to have the surgery thanks to the Gift of Life Program initiated by the Rotary Club Beijing (Provisional), a branch of the worldwide humanitarian organization, Rotary International.

Li is just one of 68 Chinese children born with heart disease who have benefited from the program arranged by Rotary Beijing and the Rotary Club of Great Neck, Long Island, New York.

Rotary Beijing began extending a helping hand more than a decade ago, with projects focusing mainly on children at risk and emphasizing healthcare, education, training and capacity building.

Regula Hwang, president of Rotary Club Beijing, said that the organization has injected more than 6 million yuan (US$725,000) into 37 projects in the past four years.

The club is the organizer of the annual Rotary Ball for Charity. It raises funds by selling corporate sponsorships and tickets, soliciting donations of goods and services, and holding auctions. It raised nearly 1 million yuan (US$120,000) from the ball last year, which has been invested in an HIV/AIDS program to assist the families of infected children.

The 2004 Rotary Ball for Charity is scheduled to be held in Beijing on May 29, and the donation target for this year will be 1 million yuan (US$120,000), she said.

“One hundred percent of the net proceeds raised by the Rotary Ball for Charity will go to worthwhile projects assisting children and families affected by HIV/AIDS in central China’s Henan Province and north China’s Shanxi Province, the Beijing Children’s Village--a home for children whose parents are in prison--and the Fortune and Minkang schools for mentally challenged children,” Hwang said.

The Beijing-based Stars and Rain Institute for Autism and children in need of heart surgery are also beneficiaries, she added.

“Caring for the community we live in is caring for ourselves. I hope more and more people will join us to help those needy children,” Hwang said.

(China Daily May 12, 2004)