Annual charity campaign Bulgarian Christmas 2015 launched, to aid seriously ill children
The traditional annual charity campaign Bulgarian Christmas (Българската Коледа), to raise funds to provide treatment and equipment to care for seriously ill children, was launched on December 1 2015.
The campaign is in its 13th year and as is customary, is under the patronage of the head of state.
Funds may be donated via bank card payments from anywhere in the world, or by sending a text message to the number 1117 via any Bulgarian mobile phone operator, or by calling the fixed line 09001117 from a Vivacom or MTel number. Each SMS means a donation to the campaign of one lev.
Donations also may be made by bank transfer (БНТ, “Българската Коледа”, IBAN: BG13UBBS80023300186210, BIC code: UBBSBGSF) or on the internet via epay.bg. Further details may be found on the bgkoleda.bg website, in Bulgarian only.
The 2014/15 campaign raised close to two million leva for the needs of children with congenital diseases. These funds assisted nearly 500 children with chronic and serious illnesses and provided high-tech equipment to 10 hospitals in Bulgaria.
Speaking at the launch of the 2015/16 Bulgarian Christmas campaign, President Rossen Plevneliev said: “Our attitude toward human suffering makes us stronger, better and more complete personalities”.
The theme of this year’s campaign is helping children in intensive care, he said at the launch ceremony, held at Sofia’s Pirogov emergency hospital.
He said that many children who had received emergency treatment needed assistance in regard to diagnosis, medical devices and recuperation. The campaign also sought to raise funds for equipment, Plevneliev said, noting that unfortunately some of the equipment required for resuscitation and intensive care in children’s wards was outdated, making it unreliable.
