About | Gift of Life Northeast Ohio (GoL NEO)

What GOL NEO Does

Mission
Vision

Mission

Gift of Life Northeast Ohio (GoL NEO) serves children and their extended families from the developing world who do not have access to cardiac care. For these children, GoL NEO is their last hope.

What we have achieved

100 + children into NE Ohio for Open heart surgery since 2003
40 + children in 5 training teams into Kenya including Mather Hospital Nairobi and Tenwek Hospital in western Kenya
12 children at Gertrude Hospital Nairobi Kenya with Egyptian Gift of Life Surgical team alongside Kenyan Surgical team global grant 2022
70 open heart surgeries/year on their own in Nicaragua after 4 years training with International Children’s Heart Foundation team “Corizon Abeirto”
Egypt’s Assiut University Hospital in 2013-15, 294 children with open heart surgery – 253 by Egyptian team on their own – 300 cath procedures ~ 600 kids! Still serving with their own surgical teams.
Egypt 4^th Global Grant 2023 totaling now over 200 children in partnership with Gift of Life Cairo
Haiti 3 global grants partnering with St. Damien’s Childrens Hospital in Port au Prince with surgical team from Italy and Akron Childrens ICU team serving more than 36 children in country.
Haiti 3 Vocational Training Team grants exchanging dozens of medical professionals between St. Damien’s Children’s Hospital Port au Prince and Akron Children’s Hospital in Ohio. Support to Dr. Alexandra Noisette to become Haiti’s first Pediatric Cardiologist.
17 Children from Haiti referred by Haiti Cardiac Alliance into Akron Children’s Hospital for complex open-heart surgeries.
In 2003 Jim Frame joined a dozen other USA Gift of Life programs to form Gift of Life International as the umbrella organization to help coordinate and expand GoL’s globally.
GoL- NEO provided major grants to GoL- I in 2010 for global ambassadors to grow us to the 84 Gift of Life chapters in 80 countries active today.

Vision

GoL NEO has successfully progressed from serving “one child at a time” to helping create children’s heart centers in the developing world. This model allows for not only training of local surgeons and staff, but helps provide surgical services to more children. This is the long term goal of GoL NEO.

GoL NEO has hosted over 50 children from the developing world who have come to Rainbow Babies and Children’s Hospital for repair of their defective hearts. Recently, GoL NEO has also partnered with Akron Children’s Hospital to bring children from Haiti for heart surgery.

Past District Governor of Rotary District 6630 Jim Frame and Founder of Gift of Life NEO.

Our Story

In 2003, Past District 6630 Governor, Jim Frame, received a call from Allen Feehan of Gift of Life in New Jersey (Rotary District 7470) asking if Jim could help a child who needed open heart surgery.

“Yes, and I’ll try my best.”

Their former heart surgeon, Dr. Hani Hennein, had recently moved to Rainbow Babies and Children’s Hospital in Cleveland, Ohio. Dr. Hennein was ready to perform the surgery but needed help in hosting the child. Jim, as he always does, answered, “Yes, and I’ll try my best.” Jim made his first call to Ken Fogle of the Chagrin Valley Rotary Club to join him as they had worked successfully on previous Rotary District 6630 international projects. And with that, Jim Frame became chairman of what evolved into Gift of Life Northeast Ohio (Gol NEO) with Ken as his co-chair.

First 5 years

For the first 5 years, Rotary District 6630 GoL NEO ran on a shoestring. There were little to no funds let alone a budget, so GoL NEO would react and support each child as they were identified. Funds were raised as needed from individual Rotary Clubs within Rotary District 6630.For each child, $5,000 needed to be raised to cover the “token” payment to Rainbow babies and Children’s Hospital. An additional $500-1,000 was also needed for incidental expenses related to family costs at Ronald McDonald House.

In 2003 Jim Frame joined a dozen other US based Gift of Life programs to form Gift of Life International to help expand Gift of Life globally and to coordinate the efforts among the current Gift of Life chapters. Jim was an initial member of the original International Board.

In 2008

The Chagrin Valley Rotary Club (CVRC) conducted a major fundraiser which, combined with an extraordinary “Cy Pres” Award from a class action lawsuit, allowed GoL NEO to enter a new level of providing life-saving heart surgery to children in the developing world. GoL NEO began a partnership with Dr. Hani Hennein’s Pedi-Heart World (PHW) and Dr. Bill Novick’s International Children’s Heart Foundation (ICHF) to redirect towards a more sustainable future.

The Future

Although extremely important, saving one child at a time does not create sustainability. GoL NEO changed to supporting outbound medical training trips of teaching experts as our primary means of service. These medical teams can not only can serve more children in a 2-week trip at less than a tenth the cost per child than if done in the U.S., but they can assess equipment needs and expand the capacity of local medical team skills. Developing local skills and equipping local teaching hospitals is GoL NEO’s future for not only sustainable children’s heart service but to improve child health care services overall.

Our Time line of Achievements

1975 First GoL began w/ Robbie Donno and his Long Island Rotary Club (Grace Agwaru Uganda) Grace, now 53 is a strong leader in East Africa Gift of Life Uganda

1980’s A few Cleveland Hts Rotarians tried – 2 children from Trinidad Tobago w/ Cleve. Clinic. GE Exec David Miller & new club member Ken Fogle Cleveland Hts. The program was not sustainable

2002 PDG Jim Frame Mantua gets the call from Gift of Life New Jersey “you have our surgeon! we need your help. Jim & Ken let’s get started!

2003 Yousef Abdel Malik 7 mo old – 7 lbs. His choice to eat or breathe. GoL NEO’s first child is successful and is now a healthy young adult

2003-04 +/12 GoL’s meet in Baltimore to form GoL International Now 84 GoL’s like us in 80 countries!

2003-08 Rainbow Babies and Children’s Hospital Cleveland has brought in over 40 kids but the model is not sustainable. Total All GoL Programs 10,000^th Child

NEED TO FIND ANOTHER WAY – SUSTAINBILITY – Teach/Equip Locals

2009 Assiut Egypt the Ohio State our 1^st Children’s heart surgical center

2010 Arab Spring lost contact/Dr. Henein dies/Dr. Jeff Kempf finds GoL NEO while volunteering in Haiti after its major earthquake.

2014-16 2 Vocational Training Team grant’s exchanging personnel between Akron Children’s & St. Damien’s Children’s in Port au Prince. Rotary District Governor Bob Johnson of the Burton Middlefield Rotary Club initiates the 1^st VTT for District 6630 and GoLNEO

WHY STRUCTERED WITH ROTARY * A Global Network, The Rotary Foundation matches club donations to expand capacity. To date, combined Gift of Life Global Grants is second only to Polio Grants in dollar amounts worldwide.

2015 TRF VTT grant with Haiti – Recon w Assiut +/- 300 surgr +/- 300 caths on their own in a 2 yrs

2016 Dr. Mike Liske into Tenwek Kenya – VTT Team in Akron Children’s from Haiti – GoLNEO and Gift of Life International joint trip reconnects with Gift of Life Cairo in Egypt.

2017 Haiti’s Dr. Noisette funded for Pediatric Cardiology training in Paris – TRF Global Grant #1 into Cairo Egypt – TRF Global Grant #1 into Haiti – Film Company to Haiti

2018 TRF Global Grant #2 into Haiti – Complete Dr. Noisette Training as Haiti’s first and only pediatric cardiologist

2019 TRF Global Grant #2 Egypt – Djeneba, African child into to Akron Children’s for complex surgery

2020 Kylian, Haitian child into Akron Childrens for complex surgery – TRF Global Grant #3 to Egypt. Total All GoL Programs 40,000^th Child

2021 Stephanie, Haitian Child to Akron Childrens for complex surgery – FILM FEST Documentary “Open Hearts” Service Above Self Award – Here’s the Link where you can get it: ROKU TV for free – TRF Global Grant Nairobi Kenya – Our GoL Cairo Team is now outbound surgical team trainer. 23 children over fall and winter.

2022 Darwinsky, Haiti second surgery at Akron Childrens for complex surgery – Rotary International President Jennifer Jones shares her Gift of Life experience in Jordan with All Ohio Rotary President Elect Training – Sam, Haiti into Akron Childrens for complex surgery

2023 TRF Global Grant #4 Egypt with Dr. Shawky for 43 indigent children

It’s Sustainable! Akron Children’s heart surgery +/- $100k no help to home country. Egypt heart surgery +/- $3,500 per child

Yousef Abdel Malik: Gift of Life North East Ohio’s first child.

Yousef underwent heart surgery in November of 2003 at twelve weeks old and is now 20, living a full life with his family near Cairo Egypt.

Yousef first came to us at the request from Dr. Hani Hennein, the newly established pediatric heart surgeon for Rainbow Babies and Children’s hospital.

Mom Georgia was in her 40’s and had been unable to carry a child to full term. Yousef was her family’s last hope. Yousef weighed only 7 pounds on arrival. He had been unable to nurse as he fought for breath with any exertion due to his heart defect.

Dr. Hennein described the surgery as working inside a heart that was only as large as his end thumb joint. Ken and Jim visited Georgia and Yousef daily as the family stayed at Ronald McDonald house. They both joined Georgia along with Grandma and Yousef with each hospital visit and throughout the surgery and recovery process. A member of Rotary was with the family every day during their stay in Cleveland.

Yousef returned home after his recovery at McDonald house. Ken was able to visit in 2016 with a healthy, slightly chubby, teenage Yousef as well as 2 other egyptian children (Mohamed and Sharouk) who also had surgeries in Cleveland. This reconnection was possible as part of a visit with CEO Rob Raylamn of Gift of Life International and Dr, Shawky of Gift of Life Cairo setting the stage for numerous joint Rotary Global Grants, saving the lives of more than 100 indegent children in Cairo Egypt by their own surgical teams.