Heart to Heart is a Shanghai based charity which is a 100% volunteer organisation. It provides corrective surgery for Chinese children from all over China with congenital heart disease (CHD) whose parents are unable to afford the surgery. To date H2H has sponsored over 2,377 children for heart surgery. The surgeries not only saved their lives but transformed the lives of their families.
While in Shanghai I volunteered for H2H for over 4 years. I represented the charity at leading Shanghai international schools by doing presentations or being involved in their fundraising endeavors. I sorted donations from expats that were leaving Shanghai and also helped prepare the teddy bears which were sold to raise funds for the surgeries.
Three times a year a field trip was organised to go visit previous heart surgery recipients and local low-income schools. During these visits we would provide these schools with a library fund donation to help start or add to their library with either books or technology. We would also provide bags of clothes and toy donations for the school community. On average 6 to 8 schools were visited during each trip. We would also visit 6-8 former heart surgery patients. These children would normally be aged between 6-month-old babies to young teenagers. We would make sure that after this life saving surgery they were now doing well and didn’t need any further attention. We would take gifts, clothes and toys for the child and families and give a volunteer funded “hongbao” which was a red envelope cash gift to the families.
In my last two years in Shanghai, I founded the annual Heart to Heart Art Show. This art show was started with no budget and purely funded by donations, volunteers, and sponsorships. Each art show raised enough to fully fund corrective heart surgery for 10 children.
When I started working for the charity, I thought it was my way of giving back and being of service. What I didn’t realise is that I would be blessed with so much more. I simply gave my time and effort and in return I got back smiles, love, joy, gratitude, fulfilment, fun, experiences, lifelong friendship, laughs and so much more. The time at H2H will forever be in my heart.
To find out more about this worthwhile organisation and discover how you can make a difference simply head over the Heart to Heart website.
Maria Christoforatos
School Liasion Manager
Heart to Heart Shangai
