AMERICARES FOUNDATION, INC.
STAMFORD, CT

Bob became an active philanthropist early in his career, starting a charity in the early 1970s, the Shoeshine Foundation, whose mission was to shelter Vietnamese war orphans. He remained active in several other charities when in April, 1975, a U.S. jet evacuating 243 Vietnamese orphans from Saigon crashed shortly after take-off, killing almost half of the children onboard. Upon hearing the Pentagon would take 10 days to rescue the surviving children, Bob was determined to cut through the red tape. He called Pan Am, chartered a jet and brought the survivors back to safety in the U.S., where the plane was met by President Gerald Ford. After his check to Pan Am bounced, he and his wife, Leila, mortgaged their home. “The bank got the house but we saved the kids—a fair trade,” recalled Leila. Americares has been delivering and distributing medical assistance to people in need ever since. Bob collaborated with kings, heads of state and Mother Teresa in support of Americares mission to help more people live longer and healthier lives. Bob has received numerous awards for his humanitarian service, including the President’s Volunteer Action Award from Ronald Reagan in 1984 and the Albert Schweitzer Humanitarian Award in 1997. The work of Americares has been commended by Presidents Nixon, Ford, Carter, George H.W. Bush, Clinton and George W. Bush. For people affected by poverty or disaster, health is essential to a better future. With good health, they can attend school, be productive at work, care for their families and contribute to strong communities. Poor health puts all of those opportunities at risk. Health is fundamental to all aspects of development.   work there. What began as a response to the Ebola crisis just a couple of years ago has now evolved into a field office doing deeply programmatic work to support the country’s health system. I am excited about the trip ahead, but there is much work to do to prepare, including getting a yellow fever vaccine booster and medication for typhoid and malaria prevention. , but, as is often the case after we respond to a disaster, Americares has stayed in Liberia to develop innovative health programs to strengthen the health system and improve overall health. Besides improving health every day, these programs will help ensure the health system is resilient in the event of another infectious disease outbreak. For people affected by poverty or disaster, health is essential to a better future. With good health, they can attend school, be productive at work, care for their families and contribute to strong communities. Poor health puts all of those opportunities at risk. Health is fundamental to all aspects of development.   Americares is approved by the Internal Revenue Service as a 501 (C) (3) tax-exempt organization, and all donations are tax deductible to the extent provided by law. Americares Federal Identification Number (EIN) is 061008595. Member of Reuters Alertnet. Americares is approved by the Internal Revenue Service as a 501 (C) (3) tax-exempt organization, and all donations are tax deductible to the extent provided by law. Americares Federal Identification Number (EIN) is 061008595. Member of Reuters Alertnet. We work in dozens of countries around the world, improving health care in areas of desperate need. We also help those without access to health care here at home. Americares has offices in El Salvador, India, Nepal, Liberia, Sierra Leone, Tanzania and the Philippines in addition to our global headquarters in Stamford, Connecticut. We are an efficient, accountable and highly respected, health-focused global aid and development organization. We earn top marks for transparency from nonprofit rating site Charity Navigator and receive donations from many of the largest and most respected health care organizations in the world. Because we use contributions in tandem with high-value donated pharmaceuticals, each donation gets leveraged many times over. For every $10 donated we can provide $200 in aid.