BBLF again is a partner of the event
Evening of the Virtues, For Our Children Foundation’s biggest charity event held last night raised BGN 150,000. The funds will be invested in high quality foster care for children who, either temporarily or permanently, cannot live with their families. For Our Children provides recruitment, training, psychological and financial support to foster parents as well as training for children from social insitutions so they can adapt to life in a family environment.
"Tonight we all changed many children’s destinies. I pledge that For Our Children Foundation will invest every single lev in foster care so that there are no more children without families," CEO Ivanka Shalapatova stated.
The event was held under the patronage of Ms. Kristalina Georgieva, European Commissioner for Budget and Human Resources in the Juncker Commission. It is the second time she supports the foundation: "The best investment in the future is the one in our children and their wellbeing. Children are one of the most vulnerable groups in our society and at the same time the ones we count on to make the world a better, cleaner and more beautiful place. For Our Children Foundation does not simply provide hundreds of children with the opportunity to find families. It creates a community of responsible people who find their own way to embrace the Foundation's good cause".
350 guests attended Evening of the Virtues 2015 held at Sofia Event Centre under the motto Fulfill the Dream of a Family! Numerous partners, donors and supporters of the foundation joined the event. Again, Evening of the Virtues’s general sponsor was Dundee Precious Metals Chelopech. The guests bid for the live performances they saw. On stage were TV celebrities, foster children and parents, For Our Children experts as well as some of the most successful business leaders in Bulgaria, namely BBLF Board members Zoya Paunova (AstraZeneca), Vesela Ilieva (Unique Estates), Petar Ivanov (Microsoft), Ivan Vassilev (TNT) and George Ruitchev (BBLF exectuive director) who performed a popular children's song together. Mentors included film director Georgi Nizamov, composer Viktor Chuchkov and teachers from three different school of arts: Libera, Fusion Academy and Dance Academy Sofia.
TNT Bulgaria CEO Ivan Vassilev said: "I joined the event as it stands up for a wonderful cause full of positive energy and beneficial to the community."
The event also featured a charitable auction with items donated to the foundation by the likes of President Rosen Plevneliev, Kristalina Georgieva, diplomats, celebrities and athletes. A painting of Bulgarian artist Svetlin Roussev was sold for BGN 19,000.
For Our Children has been working in Bulgaria for 23 years to prevent children from spending their lives in social institutions and help them live in a family environment. Evening of the Virtues 2014 fundraised BGN 80,000 which helped 500 children by saving them from abandonment and supported their development. For Our Children Foundation was the first one to introduce foster care in Bulgaria in 1997.
