Heart to Heart airlift remembers Chernobyl victims

Group sends medical aid to Belarus on 20th anniversary of nuclear disaster

OLATHE, Kan./April 26, 2006 — Heart to Heart International Inc., a leading humanitarian organization, reported that a medical shipment worth $4.8 million (U.S. wholesale) was airlifted to the former Soviet republic of Belarus and arrived today on the 20th anniversary of the Chernobyl nuclear disaster.

“This medicines and supplies aboard this aircraft will help many, many people,” said Dr. Gary Morsch, who traveled to the Belarussian capital Minsk to honor Chernobyl victims. “We hope the message behind this airlift—a message of hope—will provide healing for those who have lost loved ones or who have suffered as a result of this terrible accident.”

Dr. Morsch reflected on the nuclear disaster while he traveled throughout the country, because it had historical ties to the birth of Heart to Heart as well.

“It was during a visit to Belarus and Ukraine back in 1991,” Morsch added, “when the dream of Heart to Heart started.”

During that visit in 1991, he provided a small token of goodwill—two duffel bags full of medical supplies—to his counterparts at one of the hospitals he toured. Their response of gratitude led him to dream of a bigger shipment to assist hospitals behind the Iron Curtain. That dream became reality a year later when the inaugural Heart to Heart Airlift landed in Moscow in May 1992.

The airlift to Belarus was made possible through a grant from the U.S. Department of State in partnership with CitiHope International.

It included a major gift of oncology drugs from the National Cancer Coalition that will be instrumental in helping Chernobyl victims deal with the lingering effects of the nuclear accident.