Help Save a Child: Children of Chernobyl (CCOC)—the only organization in the world that evacuates and treats sick children from the devastated region of Chernobyl.  The children they rescue are dying of cancer, crippled by birth defects, and suffering from heart maladies as a result of their exposure to the radiation released by the catastrophic explosion of the Chernobyl nuclear power plant.  To date, they have rescued 2,580 children on 83 rescue missions. 
The radioactive chemicals in the Chernobyl region are just as potent today—twenty-two years after the nuclear meltdown— as they were on the day of the explosion.  In the days immediately following the nuclear disaster, a cement sarcophagus was built over the reactor site to contain the radioactive debris; after two decades of exposure to the elements, this encasement is now cracking and radioactive material is seeping into the soil and water.  Danger is not subsiding—it is growing.   
There is only one solution—evacuation and intensive medical treatment.  Once the children are removed from the radioactive environment, they are cleansed of the life threatening toxins.  CCOC makes arrangements for long-term medical care, surgeries, rehabilitation services, and counseling as well as housing, education, clothing, and extracurricular activities to enable a complete recovery for each child. 

To help save the children I am hosting a Masquerade Ball benefiting Children of Chernobyl on Saturday night, March 7^th (invitation above).