Variety Children's Lifeline

Variety Children's Lifeline was started by Variety International in 1982 and has since provided medical and surgical assistance to underprivileged children in developing countries where the appropriate medical facilities, expertise, and/or resources do not exist. In addition to saving lives, Lifeline's goal is to assist these countries in building self-sufficient teams of medical personnel with the knowledge and equipment needed to provide such specialized surgical procedures to their communities. Though the primary focus is on pediatric cardiac surgeries, Lifeline also attends to pediatric neurosurgeries, cranial-facial procedures, tuberculosis, and neonatal clinics.

Variety Children's Lifeline provides medical assistance to the children who so urgently need help in two ways: 1) Lifeline sponsors teams of medical personnel throughout each year to go into developing countries where the medical community is ill-equipped to handle complicated cases, and, 2) when it is impossible to operate on-site (because of post-operative care requirements, inadequate equipment, or the complex nature of the procedure), Lifeline sponsors the children in need of care and brings them to the United States to one of Lifeline's Core Hospitals.

Variety Children's Lifeline's medical mission teams are volunteer physicians, including cardiologists, surgeons, anesthesiologists, and intensivists, as well as other critical medical staff. None of the participating medical personnel receives financial compensation.

For more information, please contact:

Variety Children's Lifeline
514 Via de la Valle, Suite 207
Solana Beach, CA 92075
Tel:  858.509.9445
Fax:  858.509.0708
Website:  www.varietychildrenslifeline.org