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The Gertler Family Foundation

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gertlerfamilyfoundation.org
LOS ANGELES,
CA 90049-3310

Mission

The GFF is committed to improving the lives of the most vulnerable communities in the Democratic Republic of Congo, focusing on healthcare, education, infrastructure development, agriculture, emergency assistance and culture.

Supported Causes

GFF projects are undertaken throughout the DRC, in areas that include Kinshasa, Kasaï-Oriental, Katanga, Orientale, Maniema and Sud Kivu.

  • Healthcare
    Building and managing hospitals and partnering with national and international health bodies to help meet the basic and more complex healthcare needs of the population. GFF healthcare programs address lack of access to basic medical services, malnutrition, facial deformities, malaria, tuberculosis and other endemic diseases, HIV- AIDS and more.
  • Education
    Building and renovating schools, sponsoring housing and education for orphans and vulnerable children as well as women’s education, contributing educational materials and equipment to primary and secondary schools and universities, and providing scholarships, and more.
  • Infrastructure and Facilities
    The GFF builds and develops schools, housing, hospitals, farms, roads and health clinics.
  • Culture:
    Supporting sports, music and other cultural programs that contribute to the well being of Congolese citizens and the social development of communities.
  • Disaster and Emergency Relief
    Special care is given to orphans, people suffering through natural disasters and people living with HIV/AIDS.

Projects

  • HCK Hopital du Cinquantenaire de Kisangani – Awarding substantial grant for opening a hospital in Kisangani in 2012. The GFF enabled a shuttered medical facility in the heart of one of the most challenged regions of the country, to finally open and serve its extremely needy population. The hospital had been sitting vacant, lacking facilities, medicines and staff. The Foundation’s grant was used to purchase equipment and supplies so the hospital could open and become a Level IV Trauma Center. A further donation was given for hiring top-level staff and management to run the establishment.
  • SOS Children’s Village Kinshasa – More than 2,300 programs in aid of vulnerable children and adults around the globe are run by SOS Children’s Villages. The organization started working in Kinshasa in the DRC in the 80s and established a partnership with GFF in 2011. The initial donation made by GFF provided 15 months of basic care for ten children, and the organization now makes regular annual contributions to the project.
  • Operation Smile – An international project that provides cleft lip and palate surgeries free of charge to patients in more than 60 countries across the world. Over 200,000 surgeries have been performed since the inception of the project. Partnering with GFF has secured financial support and help with logistics for project delivery in the DRC.
  • Friends of the Lubumbashi Zoo (AZLU) – A small group of animal enthusiasts formed AZLU in 2007 with the aim of improving the lives of zoo animals residing in Lumbashi Zoo. Over the years the group has made vast improvements to the animal enclosures, security and water supply. GFF made a substantial donation to AZLU, which was used to fund the construction of a new veterinary clinic, the purchase of state-of-the-art equipment for the clinic and to send the Lumbumbashi Zoo veterinarian to Belgium to receive advanced training.
  • Blaise Pascal School Lubumbashi – Founded in 1972, the Blaise Pascal School in Lubumbashi was forced to close in 1991 after political turmoil resulted in looting throughout the DRC. The French Embassy and the provincial government joined forces to re-open the school in 2009. Shortly thereafter GFF made a donation towards constructing a computer center, library and additional classrooms.

The Foundation's History

The Gertler Family Foundation was co-founded in 2004 by Dan Gertler, who is a senior advisor to the Fleurette Group. The Gertler family have been actively promoting social development in the DRC for over a decade.

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