The Children First Foundation

Children First Foundation was established in 1999 to support and expand the humanitarian work of Moira Kelly, AO.
The Foundation's mission is to transform the lives of children who need us most by giving hope, exceptional care and pathways to a brighter future. To achieve this the Foundation operates two programs, Miracle sMiles and Between the Gaps, and is involved in gECHO (getting Every Child's Heart Okay). Through these programs we aim to:
Provide seriously injured or unwell children from developing countries with the opportunity to have life saving/life changing surgery
Provide respite and a compassionate environment for children undergoing surgery or medical treatment and other children in need, and their care
Provide ancillary medical assistance to disadvantaged children
Improve the life expectancy of disadvantaged indigenous children
Offer disadvantaged children experiences that will enrich their lives
Link visiting children to their communities in Australia so that they can maintain their cultural identity during their stay
The Foundation has also established a number of collaborative relationships with other organisations with a view to enhancing its programs.

Our Programs


Miracle sMiles Program

The Foundation's principle program is the Miracle sMiles Program. This Program identifies children in war-torn or poverty-stricken lands suffering from debilitating illness, injury or deformity, and brings them to Australia for life-saving or profoundly life-changing surgery. Rehabilitation is then undertaken at the Foundation's Farm at Kilmore. Donated and built by Rotary International 9790, and operated by committed volunteers, the Farm provides a loving and peaceful environment for the children whilst recuperating.
Saving children's lives, however, doesn't come cheaply. Despite many people; doctors, surgeons, nurses, other medical specialists, and organisations giving their time and expertise on a pro bono basis, the average cost of facilitating vital cardiac surgery in Australia is around $30,000.
Between the Gaps

Our Between the Gaps program provides medical assistance to referred disadvantaged Australian children that require ancillary medical assistance. These children are not able to access treatment through the Medicare system as they are primarily in foster care or under child protection orders. Areas of assistance may include orthodontic, dental, orthotic, speech pathology or opthomological.
gECHO Project

The gECHO (getting Every Child’s Heart Okay) program is a Rheumatic Heart Disease Screening project in Northern Australia conducted by the Menzies School of Health Research in conjunction with CFF and a number of other institutions, with major funding provided by the Australian Government. Through this project CFF will be able to help Aboriginal children, living in Northern Australia, diagnosed with Rheumatic Heart Disease (RHD).
RHD is the most common acquired heart disease of children worldwide – it is a disease of disadvantage and it can be prevented! Although RHD is considered rare in Australia’s non-Aboriginal population, in Aboriginal Australians the rate of RHD prevalence remains one of the highest in the world.
This project seeks to:

• Establish how big the problem of RHD is in Aboriginal children across the country (prevalence). These results can then be used by politicians, health planners and local health staff to allocate resources

• Confirm that echocardiogram diagnosis of RHD is the best way to identify children with early RHD, before they are sick and when prevention works best

• Identify children who require prophylaxis

• Refer detected cases requiring cardiac surgery
The program will undertake an intensive echocardiography screening process of 4,000 children living in remote Aboriginal communities in Central Australia, the Top End (NT), Far North Queensland and the Kimberley (WA). An additional 1,000 healthy middle class children living in Darwin, Broome and Cairns will be assessed for comparison.
Those children diagnosed with RHD as a result of this screening process will be able to access support, accommodation and rehabilitation care from Children First Foundation for the duration of their treatment.


Moira Kelly, AO


Born in 1964, Moira commenced her selfless contributions to the less fortunate at the very young age of 13. At 20 years old, she left home and went and worked with Aboriginal children in Western Australia.
At 22, Moira worked alongside Mother Theresa in Calcutta. After working in Calcutta Moira returned home to work with AIDS sufferers and establish a "special unit" for boys with behavioural problems at Sutherland Homes.
At 26, Moira left Australia again for Botswana where she worked with the Kalahari bushmen on a self help project. She then travelled to Johannesburg and then New York. Whilst overseas, Moira worked with some of the world's least fortunate people. She has carried out large-scale humanitarian projects and has been there to assist desperate and sick individuals in Johannesburg, the Bronx (USA), Romania, Bosnia and Albania. She has set up soup kitchens, refugee camps, dental clinics, schools, managed an AIDS hospital and adult education programs.
Moira has been recognised with many community, national and international awards for her humanitarian work. In 1989, at just 25, she was awarded a Queen' Trust Achiever Award and the Victorian Young Achiever Award for Community Service.
In 1994, Moira was awarded the inaugural Sir Edward Dunlop Award for humanitarian service and in 1995 Moira's efforts in Bosnia were honoured by a meeting with the Queen at Buckingham Palace.
In 2001, Moira received a number of national and international awards for her incredible work. She was awarded the White Flame Award given by Save the Children to recognise outstanding service to disadvantaged children. She was also was one of 10 people recognised internationally for their contribution to the world. In Australia, Moira received The Prime Minister's Award for outstanding community service and was made an Officer (AO) in the General Division of the Order of Australia in recognition of her "outstanding service to the Australian community through the provision of social support and service for disadvantaged people, and to the international community through the provision of humanitarian relief and assistance and the organisation of medical treatment for those affect by war or insurrection".
In 2003, and again in 2004, she was honoured by being nominated for Australian of the Year.
Moira's work has been the subject of three documentaries: A Compassionate Rage, Brothers in Arms and Foreign Correspondent. Her work has been acknowledged internationally and carries on today through the Children First Foundation.

Children First Foundation
http://www.childrenfirstfoundation.com/