11.03.2014
Result? 2013 turned out to be C4C’s best year ever in terms of total aid rendered to children at risk and in need: 88.539.323 CZK in direct aid given to 92 different institutions with resident children!
This tallies up to over 600.000.000 CZK in direct aid given since C4C’s inception! (30 million USD)
To tell you the truth, if anyone would have told us in 1996 that our rag-tag band of volunteers would have morphed 18 years later into an international organization with far-reaching results, a staff of over 40 people and spanning from Central Europe to the Middle East – it would have seemed simply inconceivable to us! Things like this simply can’t be planned.
Of course, to give credit to whom credit is due – to a large degree we’ll have to defer C4C’s success to our dear Patrons, Partners and Sponsors – those that hold up the torch with us: without them, we simply wouldn’t be where we are at today! Take a minute and peruse these fine companies and individuals here – they are truly part of us!
As far as the months of February and March are concerned, well, we said it before – number crunching is not really the favorite activity for our highly motivated and idealistic bunch of volunteers and staff alike. Changing the world they don’t mind, but Excel sheets and numbers are somewhat like a wet blanket thrown over our dear folks… But, in conjunction with C4C’s annual audit, this is the time for pulse feeling, temperature taking and gauging of C4C’s past year’s performance! It’s a necessary evil (smile) but it helps us stay on top of things.
So, in short and without further ado, this is how C4C’s three individual initiatives performed in 2013: (Depending on your browser, stats may be in perfect colums – or not…Sorry, IE, Chrome & Firefox at times still don’t adhere to the same conventions)
SPRINGBOARD TO LIFE
The program provides orphaned and institutionalized children, once they reach teen age, with educational opportunities throughextra-curricular vocational classes – to help them in their quest to integrate into society at large and be successful in the job market.
C4C’s roving team of qualified teachers travels a good many kilometers every year to teach children in far flung institutions the skills it takes to successfully integrate into society at large.
Participating children: 588
Teachers: 18
Benefitting institutions: 15
Socialization/integration events: 3
CLASSES/COURSES OFFERED:
– Hairstyling
– Baking/Cooking
– Life Coaching /Mentoring
– Creative English
– Computer Sciences
– Household Sciences, Sowing, etc
– Music Theory & Guitar
ROBIN HOOD:
Our folk hero of old has done it again! Having left Sherwood Forest and the jurisdiction of the Sheriff of Nottingham already some time ago, his romping up of support for orphans and children at risk here in Central Europe continues to yield amazing results:
The ROBIN HOOD team, with the help of C4C’s patrons, partners and friends, in 2013 topped the 88 million CZK mark in aid rendered to children less fortunate than others! Come to think of it – that’s an incredible amount, bringing up the total amount of direct aid C4C rendered to children in need and at risk since its inception, to a mind-boggling 600 million CZK.
The program provides direct humanitarian assistance to socially challenged children living out their childhood and youth in often-times chronically underfunded government and private institutions. It is the program’s declared aim to improve the quality of life of institutionalized children and make a lasting difference in their lives.
Total Aid rendered in 2013: 88.539.323,- CZK
Benefitting institutions: 91
Children receiving direct aid: 3200
DR. CLOWN:
The program focuses on providing comic relief to hospitalized children, helping them to overcome illness and the trauma of prolonged hospitalization through Dr. Clown’s patented “SmileTherapy”! The team also aimed to continue in 2013 what we came to term a 24/7 Dr. Clown presence in participating hospitals, by:
– distributing (in cooperation with the LEGO company) Charity LEGO sets to every hospital in the Czech Republic
– distributing Dr. Clown coloring books
– installing Dr. Clown Corners and Floor Games
– training nurses as Dr. Clown “Agents” and teaching them, amongst other things, magic tricks and balloon sculpturing, etc.
“As much fun as our Dr. Clown visits are for children, our clowns can only spend so much time with children in any given hospital”, explains Rafal Wojas, Dr. Clown’s “Ueberclown” and C4C co-founder. “That why we’re also focusing on coaching nurses and distributing LEGO sets, coloring books and floor games to help establish children friendly environments in children wards across the Czech Republic.”
Clown team visits to hospitals & pedriatic wards: 1.209
Patients receiving “Smile Therapy”: 14.686
LEGO sets given to children & wards: 18.600
Coloring books given out: 8.930
Faces painted: 3.300
Balloon Magic animals made: 23.000
Songs sung: 4.100
In closing, we’d like to thank all of our friends, patrons, partners and helpers for their continued support and sacrifice, especially during these days of economic turmoil and uncertainty. Your help has made all of the above possible and it makes you truly part of us!
Even though we can’t promise any dividends in the conventional sense, we know that kindness shown to others is never lost and always brings returns. It is an investment into a better future. Like the old saying asserts: Kindness, sacrifice and charity simply can’t be given away, for they always return to the giver in values that can’t be measured in only dollars and cents!
Thank you all for walking the walk with us and for being there when needed!
Your C4C Team
