CHD Week Press Release: Help Little Red Scarf Reach 1000 Children

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Help Little Red Scarf Treat 1000 Children of Heart Disease
Silicon Valley executive Chao hopes to inspire community to engage in philanthropy by inviting everyone to join in helping the 1000th child in rural China

Los Altos, CA -- Sponsored by a Silicon Valley family, Little Red Scarf (LRS), a nonprofit organization in Gansu Province, China, will soon reach its goal of treating 1000 children of congenital heart disease just in time for the annual Congenital Heart Defect Week, February 7-14, 2014. 

Congenital heart disease (CHD) in rural Gansu Province is highly prevalent. As many as one in 125 children are born with the disease, but most children in Gansu come from impoverished families and are unable to afford treatment. There are environmental and genetic factors that cause CHD. Children with CHD often die before reaching adolescence. LRS intervenes to give these children new hearts, thus renewing their dreams and hopes of life. Low-income families in rural Gansu receive financial support for heart surgery, post-operative care, and family sponsorships to help children sustain healthy lifestyles. 

Since its creation in 2008 in Silicon Valley by high technology entrepreneur Ping Chao and his wife Amy, LRS has been sponsored by the Ping & Amy Chao Family Foundation in partnership with the two best hospitals in Lanzhou to achieve the goal of 1000 treated children. Mr. and Mrs. Chao hope to set an example and encourage the community to join in the efforts of helping the rest of the children in Gansu (approx. 5000 remaining, 1 in 125 statistics).

Download full press release here (PDF).