• printer friendly
• mail this article
• iPod format
• digg

Photo

The Mattel Children’s Hospital at UCLA and Cedars-Sinai Medical Center received a $10 million donation last week from actor and director Mel Gibson.

Five million dollars will go to the Mattel Children’s Hospital and the remaining $5 million will be given to Cedars-Sinai, for the purpose of funding organizations within the hospitals which help children that live in foreign countries.

UCLA handles donations depending on what the donors want and their interests. Celebrities and those interested in donating can choose where the money is placed, said Roxanne Moster, a spokesperson for UCLA Health Sciences.

“It depends on what the donor wants, you might write that you want to be anonymous, but it’s ultimately dependent on the donor’s individual decision.”

There are a variety of ways celebrities can donate money to institutes at UCLA. While some wealthy celebrities may choose to give an unrestricted gift which allows the university to allocate funds where they deem most necessary, others may decide to direct their gifts to a certain institute, according to the Campaign UCLA Web site which provides information about donations made to UCLA.

Examples of directed gifts include late 20s screen starlett Marion Davies’ donation to a UCLA children’s hospital in 1952. The hospital then donned the name of the Davies Children’s Center, according to the UCLA Web site.

The hospitals and institutes who receive funding are able to expand their services. Gibson’s recent donation is just one example of the effects donations can have at UCLA.

Gibson directed portions of his donation to Healing the Children, a non-profit organization which works with the Mattel Hospital, said Dr. Edward McCabe, the physician-in-chief of the Mattel Hospital and executive chair of the department of pediatrics.

“Healing the Children is a non-profit organization dedicated to finding children all over the world who cannot receive the medical help they need because the countries do not offer the medical care,” said Jenny Hull, a volunteer with Healing the Children.

The organization which began in 1979 brings children to the United States to receive critical care.

Chris Embleton, who founded the organization, said: “Our goal is simply to unite medical care with sick and injured children. We have seen for ourselves how willing hands and hearts can make this world a better place for children.”

Embleton brings children that need surgery to hospitals in the United States and then sends them back, working as a mediator between child and hospital. Some of the bases include Ecuador, Guatemala, Mongolia and the West Indies.

The child’s eligibility is based on whether the condition is operable, as well as how serious the condition is and how it impacts the child’s life. The stability of the child is also taken into consideration.

Hull, a volunteer for four years and a foster mother to one of the two conjoined Quiej Alvarez twins from Guatemala which were operated upon at the UCLA Medical Center last year, was enthusiastic about the donation and the fact that more aid can be given to needy children.

“It’s heartbreaking. You can imagine what the children’s parents must have felt. There were some parents who told us to take their children, just as long as they could get the medical care they needed. This wonderful donation will allow us to reach out and help. We’re thrilled to be able to do something to help,” Hull said.

Hull said the Gibson family has been very supportive of the Healing the Children foundation for years.

“They had a heart for children for a very long time, and have been helping us to bring them over here as well as to send them back to their countries. They saw that you can save kids and that there are people here who really want to help. They were so instrumental with getting the twins here and have come to respect UCLA for their renown.”

McCabe said they very much appreciated the gift. “This is a wonderful donation and will permit us to provide outstanding care to kids who would otherwise be unable to receive help. We very much appreciate it and it allows us to bring even more kids here.”

For more information on donating, go to www.campaign.ucla.edu.