Through the “Little Red Scarf” plan, Ping and Amy Chao Family Foundation, founded by technology expert Ping Chao and his wife Amy Chao (Li Hongli), helps children living with congenital heart disease in the Province of Gansu. Recently, the foundation hosted a charity art show with artist He Yuanming to help seven-year-old child “Hongyan (alias)” have enough money to undergo surgery for congenital heart disease. Hongyan will be the 1,000th child helped by Little Red Scarf. The foundation announced on the 18th that Hongyan’s surgery was successful and that surprisingly, she could already walk only a few days after the surgery. In the future, the foundation will continue this support plan to “not only help the sick children stand up again, but also to help their impoverished families rise once more.”

Hongyan is from rural Gansu and suffers from the most severe form of congenital heart disease. Because of a lack of oxygen, her fingers are bent and her entire body is tinted purple. She also cannot walk and can only stand for a few minutes, spending most of her time squatting or being carried around by her family. Her father already passed away and her family lives in poverty. She was also projected to have a hard time recovering from the surgery. The incredible and complete success of her surgery is also a milestone for the Foundation. 

Mr. Chao points out that because Hongyan could scarcely stand before the surgery, everyone was expecting that she would need a period of recovery time before she can walk. No one expected that she was able to walk immediately after the surgery. The foundation’s representatives in Gansu immediately sent a video of her walk, making everyone enthusiastic and proud at the same time of her progress. Mr. Chao says, in the future the foundation will continue to help children with congenital heart disease both by funding their surgeries and through the “Care Plan” that helps their families transcend poverty.

Mr. Chao explains that after reaching the milestone of helping the 1,000th child, the foundation will reach even poorer rural areas to find sick children who are also most in need. They will also initiate the Care Plan to support non-medical needs of the families. For example, the foundation will loan money to Hongyan’s family to help them purchase an ewe so they can start a small business, which will alleviate their poverty.

You are cordially invited...

Charity Art Exhibit “Horses” by He Yuanming: Donations will help Little Red Scarf sponsor their 1000th Child suffering from Congenital Heart Disease in Poor Rural Gansu Province

Distinguished artist, He Yuanming, donated a total of eight paintings to help Little Red Scarf sponsor their 1000th surgery for Hongyan. This includes two 4.5 ft x 2.2 ft large pieces and six 2.2 ft x 1.5 ft smaller pieces. According to Beijing Poly International Auction prices, smaller paintings are worth about $4,000 and larger paintings are worth around $30,000, estimating a total of $80,000 for 8 paintings.

Time:  March 8, 2014 (Saturday) 2:30-5:30 pm
           March 9, 2014 (Sunday) 12:00-5:30 pm

Location: Los Altos Youth Center
               1 North San Antonio Rd
               Los Altos CA 94022

Live painting demo by He Yuanming, wishing everyone a prosperous Year of the Horse!
Saturday: Opening Reception
Sunday: Donation of work to help the Little Red Scarf’s 1000th child suffering from congenital heart disease in Gansu Province

Sponsored by the Ping and Amy Chao Family Foundation

For 20 years, Taiwan Root has deployed teams of health care professionals and volunteers to bring short-term medical relief to the neediest parts of the world. The Chao Foundation has had the pleasure of supporting Taiwan Root's committed work over the past few years; and in August 2012, Nancy and Steve got to participate in a medical mission to explore new avenues of partnership with the organization.

On August 19, we arrived in Guatemala City, Guatemala. Guatemala is located in Central America, bordered by Mexico to the north and by Belize and the Caribbean to the east. Despite its rich scenery and recent development following a 36-year-long civil war, the country remains one of the poorest in Latin America. With over half the population living in poverty and many more lacking medical care, it was understandable why Taiwan Root had selected Guatemala as the site of its next mission.

Over lunch, we convened with the rest of the 26-member team that consisted of physicians, nurses, pharmacists, dentists, and other volunteers. The united team then traveled the remainder of the day to a much less developed department (equivalent to "states" in the U.S.) of Guatemala called Zacapa and spent our first night at Esperanza de Vida, a Christian ministry that provides refuge to orphans and the elderly.

From Chicago Tribune, read original article here.
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Dr. Donald Liu did not hesitate when he saw the two boys struggling to swim in the rough Lake Michigan waters.

Despite objections from his children, who were worried about the dangerous conditions, Liu raced down the beach in Berrien County, Mich., and plunged into the lake to help the boys, who had fallen out of a kayak, according to Liu's wife and authorities.

An elite pediatric surgeon from Chicago, Liu made it to the swimmers, said his wife, Dr. Dana Suskind. But the rip current surging below the 5-foot waves dragged the doctor underwater, said  Bruce McKamey, a police officer for Chikaming Township.

Emergency responders, who arrived about 10:40 a.m. local time Sunday, pulled Liu, 50, from the water and Suskind, who is also a surgeon, frantically performed CPR on her husband of more than 17 years. The boys he swam to save, who were friends of the family, made it safely back to land. But Liu was pronounced dead shortly after.

"It was horrible," Suskind said Monday. "He had the biggest heart. He was a brilliant surgeon … but what was amazing about him was that he was the best father, that was his priority in life, and he loved me with all of his heart."

The Non-Profit Incubator (NPI) has published their Social Entrepreneur Magazine (社会创业杂志, a project funded by the Ford Foundation. The cover story discuses "Grassroot organizations recount Funding Party" which mentions Transparent Fish Fund's crucial impact in providing funding for growth of grassroot organizations in China. We will have it translated into English. In the meantime, please see the magazine in Chinese.

About NPI: NPI is an aggregation of several NGO Supporting organizations which operate with contributions, both financial and otherwise, from international and domestic charity foundations, government agencies, enterprises and academies. Since its establishment in Jan 2006, NPI has worked to promote social innovation and cultivate social entrepreneurs in China by granting crucial support to start-up and small to medium sized NGOs and Social Enterprises. www.npi.org.cn