Archives for June 2015

June 19, 2015

Chili Pepper Heart Studio Benefitting ICHF

Artist Ken Winford was born with Congenital Heart Disease, and at age 15, he was forced to undergo a major heart surgery after a traumatic accident revealed the issue. After the surgery, he realized how lucky he was to be in such a great hospital with talented cardiac doctors and nurses and that others with the same disease were not always as lucky. Since his life-saving surgery, Ken made it his mission to provide a unique fundraising opportunity for health and sports charities through his distinctive chili pepper heart paintings. Recently, he launched a line of chili pepper heart T-shirts to benefit ICHF as well as Corner of Love and the Uganda Lacrosse Association. Fifty percent of each of these shirts sold will benefit ICHF!

Order an ICHF Chili Pepper Heart T-shirt!

In addition to the original designs featuring countries, Ken also created a T-shirt just for ICHF! The Babyheart shirt features our logo, globe design with several children to represent our deserving patients. One hundred percent of these shirts will benefit ICHF, so check them out and order yours now!

International Children’s Heart Foundation is especially grateful to Ken for his recent donation of artwork to the annual Taste of Caribe event and for continuing his support through the Chili Pepper Heart Studio! You can also follow Chili Pepper Heart Studio on Facebook here.

June 16, 2015

Herz Bewegt Bikes more than 200 miles for ICHF

This month, a team from the Association for the Promotion of Heart Health in Austria set off on their road bikes to raise funds for ICHF. The team, Herz Bewegt (Heart Moves), covered more than 200 miles and raised nearly $10,000, which will fund two life-saving surgeries on an upcoming trip!

The team of 30 men and women even welcomed Claudia Riegler, world champion snowboarder, on the journey. ICHF is thankful for Herz Bewegt and their determination not only to complete the long bike tour in honor of the children we serve but also for their incredible support and donation!

Bike tour for children with heart disease

June 15, 2015

2015 Taste of Caribe was a success!

This year’s Taste of Caribe was a wonderful event for ICHF and the children we serve! As a result of our supporters’ tremendous efforts, we raised $13,350 that will help us to continue expanding our Caribbean programs. We especially want to thank the Bacardi Family Foundation for its generous $10,000 donation, as well as Temple Israel for donating $1,500.

Thank you to sponsors and vendors

We want to recognize the Bacardi Family Foundation, Havana Mix, Metro Graphics, ANF Architects, Phancy Photo Booth, Chili Pepper Heart Studio, Michael P. Maness, Clolee, Madison Dance Studio and Club Rumba led by Edgar Mendez for donating their time, goods and services to make this a success for our team and event guests.

Thank you to special guests

Additionally, we were so thrilled that Jesser Solis Contreras, an ICHF ambassador from New York City, and John D’Amato, a blues musician from Nashville, Tennessee, who are both CHD survivors, traveled to be a part of Taste of Caribe.

If you missed Taste of Caribe this year, you can always do your part by visiting our donation page to give back to our Caribbean programs. Just specify that you wish to apply this money to our Caribbean medical missions in your donation form.

June 8, 2015

Trip Recap: Babyheart team makes second trip to Santiago, Dominican Republic, in 2015

Wow! What an incredible week our Babyheart team had in Santiago, Dominican Republic, May 23 through 30! Eight children received life-saving operations. Our youngest patient was 4 days old and was born with a very complex diagnosis of tricuspid atresia and pulmonary atresia. Our team performed a palliative surgery to insert a modified Blalock Taussig Shunt that will allow him to grow until he can have a Glenn procedure.

Local team makes great strides in caring for complex patients

The Babyheart team operated on several small patients, the smallest weighing only 2.5 kilograms (5.5 pounds)! Our oldest patient was 6 years old, and only two of the patients weighed more than 6 kilograms (12 pounds). The ability of the local team to care for these small and complex patients after surgery is proof of the growth and development of the ICHF program over the last several years. Roodney, one of the two Haitian children to receive surgery on this trip, and Jowell still remained in the ICU when the Babyheart team left, but the local team in Santiago took wonderful care of them.

Doctors and volunteers from around the world join forces to save lives

The ICHF team also was excited to have Dr. Hernan Montero, pediatric cardiac surgeon from Guayaquil, Ecuador, with us on our trip to Santiago. Dr. Montero is the leader of the team at the Icaza Bustamante children’s hospital, where ICHF is working to build a sustainable program. Not only was it a great opportunity for Dr. Montero to see additional cases and experience a medical mission in a different country, he was also an asset to the ICHF team by taking the lead on some key cases. It was great to see him and our other surgeon, Dr. Isaac Heredia from Santiago, working together in the OR with supervision from Dr. Soto.

ICHF is also grateful to all of our dedicated volunteers who worked tirelessly throughout the week caring for patients and performing ongoing teaching for the staff. We were again an international team made up of volunteers from Denmark, London, Chile, Honduras, Ecuador and the United States.

The Babyheart team has 10 more trips planned for 2015. As we look ahead to those trips, we ask our dedicated supporters to consider continued giving. It’s easy. Visit our giving page to learn more about various levels and to donate now. Children and families will be forever changed because of your generosity!