MIAMI -- The International Kids Fund is hoping the community will contribute to a campaign to help two infant sisters in desperate need of multi-organ transplants.

The sisters, Janna and Halla Awad, are Arab Israeli Muslim. They are currently at Holtz Children's Hospital in Miami.

The Awad family lives right outside of Haifa in Israel. They left the war-torn region right before the conflict between Israel and Hezbollah escalated. Their journey to Miami began with the Israeli Parliament ordering the country's Ministry of Health to allocate additional medical funding to the family for the surgeries. One of the girls is 19-months-old, the other one is 8-months-old. Both require transplantation of the liver, stomach, pancreas, spleen, small and large intestines.

The babies' mother, Hala Awad, said, "We don't know if they will survive it or not, but we trust God and we rely on Him and the doctors to take care of them."

Since the babies are not U.S. citizens or residents, Holtz Children's Hospital, part of the University of Miami/Jackson Memorial Medical Center, is prohibited by law to tap into publicly funded resources to treat her.

The IKF helps to provide medical care for children from other countries who could not get the care they need in their homeland.

Thanks to the IKF and the support of the community, hundreds of children have received expert attention from medical specialists at Holtz Children's Hospital, considered one of the top pediatric clinical research centers in the United States and the largest in Florida.

The IKF is entirely funded by donations from the general public and private organizations.

To make a donation to help with the cost of Janna and Halla's surgeries send a check or money order to:

International Kids Fund
Re: Janna and Halla Awad
P.O. Box 012297
Miami, FL 33101

For more information, call (305) 585-5888 or (877) IKF-KIDS (453-5437).