A Courageous Desire

At the close of the Cold War, Dr. Gary Morsch, a family physician from Olathe, Kansas, traveled with several other medical professionals to Russia to assess the state of patient care in the Soviet Union. The group witnessed a healthcare system on brink of collapse. Motivated by what he saw, Dr. Morsch challenged his local Rotary Club to help provide medicines and medical supplies to hospitals in Moscow. He had toured several first-rate facilities and met many talented physicians. But their pharmacies were empty and they had no way of providing their patients with life-saving medicines.

Local collection drives soon spread and grew. Major pharmaceutical companies joined the effort by donating much-needed products. Even the U.S. government got involved by providing the largest Air Force cargo plane in its fleet to fly the medical aid to Russia. On May 22, 1992, the C-5A Galaxy aircraft landed in Moscow. The medical aid was distributed and patients began receiving the care they needed.

A gift from the heart of America to the heart of Russia—the Heart to Heart Airlift—became a reality, because hundreds of volunteers and caring corporate partners joined together in an effort to help people in need. At the time, it was the largest volunteer airlift in U.S. history.

The spirit behind that first project is still alive and well at
Heart to Heart International.

As Heart to Heart works to create a healthier world, we continue to be motivated by the same principles that guided that first group of visionaries on the Heart to Heart Airlift:

• Help people in need. Heart to Heart helps millions of people each year through humanitarian initiatives that improve health, help people in crisis and promote global volunteerism.
• Do it efficiently. Because of your generosity, Heart to Heart is able to operate on an historically low overhead of less than 2 percent—meaning that more than 98 percent of every contribution goes directly to humanitarian programs. Our high level of efficiency was recently recognized by Forbes magazine, which listed Heart to Heart among America’s Top 200 Charities.
• Let everyone serve. Heart to Heart was founded on the belief that everyone has something to offer to those in need and can participate in our humanitarian mission.
• Make it life-changing for everyone involved. We are as interested in seeing you find a renewed sense of purpose in your life as we are in helping people find health and hope in challenging situations around the world.