Variety Children's Lifeline celebrates 25 years of saving and transforming lives of children worldwide through urgent medical assistance.

Founded in 1982, Variety Children’s Lifeline initially had the sole mission of providing medical assistance to children with treatable and survivable heart conditions in developing countries, where the appropriate medical facilities, expertise or resources do not exist.

To date, Variety Children's Lifeline serves children from 47 countries, has completed over 125 missions and treated over twenty thousand children through this most cost-effective program.

Variety Children's Lifeline’s primary focus continues to be paediatric cardiac surgeries, but is also involved in paediatric neurosurgeries, cranial-facial procedures, tuberculosis, neo-natal clinics, paediatric rehabilitative medicine and plastic surgeries for children.

VCL also formulated a relief response to the Tsunami that devastated areas of Southeast Asia and the hurricane Katrina that devastated areas of the United States, by providing water treatment systems to prevent water borne diseases.

Variety Children’s Lifeline has two methods for serving the children who so urgently need help. VCL sponsors teams of medical personnel throughout each year to go to developing countries where the medical community is ill equipped to handle such cases. In addition, when it is impossible to operate, because of the needed post-operative care, or, because the equipment is inadequate, or the procedure more complex, Variety Children's Lifeline sponsors the children and brings them to the United States to one of Lifeline’s Core Hospitals.

Variety Children's Lifeline’s medical mission teams are volunteer cardiologists, surgeons, anaesthesiologists and intensivists, as well as other critical medical staff including perfusionists, respiratory therapists and nurses, none of whom receive any financial compensation. The VCL mission team makes repeated trips to the correspondent country public hospital, leaving a rich resource of medical knowledge and equipment with the goal of building a self-sustained local medical program.

Each year, as a result of the committed medical personnel who volunteer their services to the program and the generous donors to Variety Children’s Lifeline, 1,000 children undergo life-saving cardiac surgery or non-invasive cardiac care; approximately 200 receive cranial facial surgeries; 75 receive neo-natal interventions and 250 children receive nutritional care.

This amazing accomplishment in both saving and transforming so many lives of the world’s children is only possible with the generosity and good spirit of the supporters.

VCL’s dedication is rewarded by the offering of life and hope to the children of our world where none exists. With your help Variety Children's Lifeline will be able to continue saving and transforming the lives of the world’s children.