Pre-Christmas bells are ringing in Slovakia…

18.12.2011

Just in time for Christmas: C4C’s Robin Hood team & long-time partners Iveco-Strojservis & Out of Round Promotions, deliver 8 million CZK worth of brand-new clothing, shoes and Lego toys to needy children in Slovakia!

When Christmas time comes rolling around, C4C’s Robin Hood team usually kicks into high gear to fill the demands for presents and toys of thousands of children living in orphanages in Central Europe. As in previous years (read here), our notorious folk hero with a heart for the poor and downtrodden, gathered a group of wildly willing friends and partners and organized a trip to make children’s hearts in Slovakia beat decidedly faster…

“It’s remarkable, but when it comes to helping us out with manpower, logistics and transportation, eager volunteers and friends can always be counted on”, marvels Rafal Wojas, C4C’s co-founder who took it upon himself to organize the trip this year.

When called upon to help out with an eight ton truck for the transport, Karel Kopecky of Iveco dealership “Strojservis” in Horni Pocernice, didn’t need much persuasion to agree: “If you guys need help – we’ll always be there for you”, was Karel’s only remark. Truck problem solved!

Tomas Pachman, who resides adjacent to the C4C center near Kladno, lived up to the biblical injunction to “love thy neighbor as thyself” and cheerfully volunteered to drive the truck, which takes a special license. Driver problem solved!

Sorting, packing and distributing 8 million CZK worth of merchandize is actually not a cakewalk and takes a lot of manpower and elbow-grease. Here’s where Jan Jarkovsky and the friendly folks from his “Out of Round” company come into play. His Czech-based crew showed up in football team strength and had the entire truck loaded in no time. In Slovakia, Jan had a local team on hand helping with the distribution to the orphanages. Logistic problem solved!

Both companies, Strojservis and Out of Round, also contribute a portion of their profits each month faithfully to C4C and make up, with C4C’s other Patrons and Partners, the steadily expanding support base of C4C’s ever growing operation. Remarkable folks! Click here to see the list and logos of all of C4C’s supporters. Funding problem solved!

The entire trip took place under the auspices and with the endorsement of the governor of the county of Zilina, Mr. Juraj Blanar, who issued through his spokesperson the following statement: “We are happy that such wonderful & beneficial functions are being organized in our region. We welcome the activities & initiative of the Chance 4 Children team in this pre-Christmas season. Your gifts have made the many children who are residing in orphanages in the entire Zilina region very happy!”

Janka Zilinska, director of the Necpaly orphanage, housing 80 children, was visibly moved by the sheer volume and quality of the shipment. She proclaimed enthusiastically:

“At first we thought that we’ll be given used clothes, for which we would have been already grateful, but this was totally unexpected – all new clothes, shoes & LEGO blocks! This will make a wonderful gift for all our children for Christmas. Thanks to C4C this will be a truly, very Merry Christmas. Thank you very much.”

 

And, in closing, we would like to express our heart-felt thanks and appreciation to all of our friends, partners and supporters! You are the ones making our work possible:

THANK YOU VERY MUCH! MERRY CHRISTMAS TO ALL OF YOU!

And for those of you with a love for detail, here’s the low-down and the stats from the trip:

Benefitting orphanages:

Dětsky Domov Necpaly
Dětsky Domov Istebné
Dětsky Domov Bytča
Dětsky Domov Kalvárská
Dětsky Domov  V. nad Kysucou
Dětsky Domov Král.Lehota
Dětsky Domov Martin
Dětsky Domov Ružom.Sidora
Dětsky Domov Turzovka
Dětsky Domov Litavka

Recipients: 580 children

Breakdown:

2.747.500 CZK (109. 890 Euro) in new shoes
5.256.250 CZK (210. 250 Euro) in new, fashionable clothing
52.500 CZK (2100 Euro) in Lego toys

Want more? Here’s a link to Televizia Turiec’s coverage of C4C’s Robin Hood trip:

http://www.tvturiec.sk/video/245-spravy-16-11-2011

Forward the clip to the 15th minute. Enjoy!