THE ROTARY Club of Makati West (RCMW) is calling on art lovers to support its annual all-sculpture exhibit-sale, “Alay Sining,” to be held at The Gallery, Greenbelt 5, Makati City, Nov. 12-15.

Now on its eight year, Alay Sining is an initiative to raise funds for RCMW’s Gift of Life program, which gives congenital heart disease (CHD) patients free heart surgery, said RCMW president Victor “Junvee” Vital.

Both seasoned and new sculptors will be contributing pieces to Alay Sining, and donating a portion of the sale of their art pieces to the Gift of Life program.

“If you support Alay Sining, you don’t only support children with heart ailments, but Filipino artists as well. So I say, Start saving hearts through art,” said Vidal.

Paolo Delgado, chair of the organizing committee, said more than 100 artists from all over the Philippines are joining Alay Sining.

Delgado said congenital heart disease usually forms at a very young age, and the mortality rate is not very good.

“Even if you do survive, you end up living a life with some sort of a handicap… you will not be able to engage in sports which young kids should be doing at their young age,” explained Delgado. “So this fundraising that we run for the Gift of Life can really make a world of difference for the children out there.”

Former RCMW president Roque Tordesillas said that the cost of a heart surgery in a private hospital ranges from P800,000 to more than P1 million.

“But because of the work we have done at the Rotary over the past 11 years, we have established ties with the National Children Hospital, our main partner, which have brought down the costs because of subsidies,” Tordesillas explained. “So the Club only pays about P100,000 up to P200,000, especially for more complicated surgeries.”

Noted sculptor Ral Arrogante, who has been with Alay Sining since year one, said artists like him are only too happy to join Alay Sining. He explained charity “completes” their artistic vocation.