Bulgarian Christmas charity initiative underway for 10th year
The Bulgarian Christmas charity initiative, which seeks to raise funds for medical treatment and equipment for seriously ill children, is underway for the 10th year.
The initiative, under the patronage of President Rossen Plevneliev, this year has treatment of children with neurological disorders and development disorders as its priority.
The previous annual Bulgarian Christmas (Българската Коледа) campaigns, from 2003 to 2011, collected more than 18.1 million leva (more than nine million euro).
In 2011, funds raised were used to assist the treatment of 358 children, the campaign said. More than 585 000 leva has been spent on buying equipment for hospitals.
Granting of funds is decided on the basis of recommendations by a committee made up of representatives of the Bulgarian neonatology and paediatric associations, the Fund for the Treatment of Children, NGOs and patients’ organisations.
The campaign said that this year, the procedures for buying medical equipment and for processing requests for assistance had been refined.
Money may be donated by a sending an SMS via any of Bulgaria’s three mobile phone service providers – Mtel, Globul and Vivacom – to the number 1117. Each text message donates one lev to the campaign. Customers of MTel and Vivacom can send money via landline phones, through the number 09001117. Details of how to pay through bank transfer and online can be found on the Bulgarian Christmas website.
(Photo: Robert Proksa/sxc.hu)
