On April 14 some boys and girls from the transition homes supported by Star of Hope Foundation visited the Easter Mineral Show at the Earth and Man National Museum in Sofia. The visit was organized by IWC as a special “Thank you” event for the young people who served as cloakroom volunteers during the IWC [...]
The Charity Chairperson of the IWC Foundation, Maria Ilieva, was a special guest on TV7 on March 25th, 2013. During her participation at the TV show she talked about the IWC charity projects and how important is to support those in need. Bravo, Maria!
One day trip to the social homes in Zlatitsa and Bouzovgrad
On November 5, 2012 the Charity team organizes a trip to the social homes in Zlatitsa and Bouzovgrad with the IWC partners from the Rotary Club of Drammen, Norway.
Departure time: 7:30 am
Meeting point: Cathedral “Alexander Nevski”
Charity visit to the protected homes of Star of Hope Foundation
On November 21, 2012 the Charity team organizes a charity visit to the protected homes of Star of Hope Foundation in Hadzi Dimitar quarter in Sofia. Car-pooling.
Departure time: 10:30 am
Meeting point: Cathedral “Alexander Nevski”
On 10/18/2012 Avantika Shinde Nielsen – President, Maria Ilieva – Charity Chairperson and Asia Alexandrova – Charity Vice Chairperson, visited the Department for premature babies at the First City Hospital in Sofia and delivered packages of diapers and other essential products for newborns on the behalf of all the ladies in the club. Thanks to this donation, the hospital will be able to meet the most pressing needs for a certain period of time. The management team of the hospital in the person of its CEO, Mr. Dimitrov expressed his gratitude for this on-time help.
Dear Ladies,
I am very glad to inform you that we had successful charity visit at the hospital on October 24th. Special thanks to Siebel, who was so kind to provide a transportation from IWC office to the hospital. Avantica, Asia and I were welcomed by the director of the hospital and then together with Dr. Rankova we went to the neonatal department.
The director of the hospital, Mr. Dimitrov, invited the IWC board if one of us needs some medical checks to call him and he will provide it.
During the visit we met Mrs. Dukova – a member of the Bulgarian parliament who was interested in joining us at the IWC Monthly Coffee Morning.
I am happy to announce that our October Diaper Drive was a very successful campaign, and due to this I would like to share with you know that on the previous Charity action group meeting last Friday we agreed to organize another campaign in November, but this time for food – rice, beans, sunflower oil, etc. The food will be provided to the people with disabilities from Svoge.
The ladies of IWC Sofia received a special invitation to be part of the celebration of the new school year in the school Otec Paisy. The children welcomed Maria Ilieva, Asia Alexandrova, Gerti Schwarzinger, Angela Bird, Sibeal Reynolds and Regina Kruczinna with flowers and a program of songs and short poems. Another surprise for the guests was homemade banitza and bread with honey.
The school received a donation from the IWC of clothes and money, which will provide lunch for the students.
Dear International Women’s Club,
We can’t thank you enough for your generous support of our summer camps for Bulgarian orphans and children-at-risk! Thanks to your gracious giving, along with the support of other like-minded groups and individuals, Smile Bulgaria was able to hold not just one, but two summer camps this year!
The first was for the children living in the Home for Children Deprived of Parental Care “Olga Stoyanova.” 34 children from this home participated in camp, and a wonderful time was had by all! Every day after breakfast, the children broke up into small groups where they discussed themes that helped them to think through their values and life choices. This was followed by English lessons for the older kids, and Bulgarian lessons for the children still learning to read. After lunch and a time of rest, the fun continued with a wonderful variety of high-quality art projects, which was greatly enjoyed by young and old alike! After art, the children and youth had two hours of sports and games. One of the highlights of this time was having a mountain trekking expert come to teach the children some basic skills, and to lead them on a trek of their own! Evening was a time for fun and games – everyone’s favorite night was when an illusionist performed! To their delight, the next day he spent a couple of hours teaching the kids his tricks.
The second camp was much smaller, with 11 kids, mostly from Dupnitsa’s Center for Social Support, half of whom were also from the orphanage. This was a great time to build relationships with new kids, with whom we hope to continue to work in the years to come, as well as to go much deeper in relationship with the children we already know. Because of the small size of the group, we were able to do even more with them! They had sports and English twice a day, and more arts-and-crafts time. Instead of small groups, we were able to talk extensively with them in a large group about the dangers of drug and alcohol abuse. We also had a lot of fun with this group, including going swimming, tie-dying our own shirts, and playing lots of games together!
Thank you, again, for the enormous part you played in making all of this possible. It’s a great privilege to partner with you to enrich the lives of these precious children, with the goal of providing them with a better future, filled with hope.
With many thanks,
Spas and Christina Stoimenovi
The Smile Bulgaria Foundation
Charity Bazaar Team 2012
Overall Coordinator:
Fatma SENEM USTUN 0879 119 151 fsustun@gmail.com
0889 103 323
Assistant Coordinator:
Albena MATOVA 0888 511 519 tabitha@direct.bg
Fund Raising:
Valia BATISTA 0876 119 600 valiabatista@yahoo.es
Avantica SHINDE NIELSEN 0879 119 152 avanticashinde@hotmail.com
Emilia SLAVOVA 0898 477 170 emilia@audioarte-bg.com
Sarah SKAGSS-DIMITROVA 0887 243 636 sarahdimitrova@gmail.com
Marina TRAJANOVA 0887 243 490 mtrajanova@technologica.com
Stallholders Coordinator:
Debbie CRITTENDEN 0894 452 248 decrittenden@hotmail.com
shc.iwcbazaar@hotmail.com
Volunteers Coordinator:
Lydia CONLEY 0884 696 339 conley.lydia@gmail.com
Logo and Donors Contacts:
Johanna ALCANTARA 0884 192 407 logos.iwcbazaar@hotmail.com
PR and Media Contacts:
Maria ILIEVA 0878 300 561 ilieva_m@yahoo.com
Donor Contracts:
Zarina BENOUN-TAKOVA 0888 308 858 office@iwc-sofia.org
Floor Plan Designer/ Tables and Chairs:
Polly PERARO 0894 024 451 pnomikou@hotmail.it
Advance Ticket Sales:
Maria NASLEDNIKOVA 0878 968 010 maria_nas@abv.bg
Entertainment:
Angela BIRD 0887 243 964 abangelb@gmail.com
Post Bazaar Activities:
Lydia CONLEY 0884 696 339 conley.lydia@gmail.com
If you would like to donate any items, such as new and used clothes, books, toys, household goods, please bring them to the monthly coffee mornings, or contact the following people:
Books:
Sonya PETROVA
0885 432 986
andsonya@yahoo.com
Clothes:
Asya ALEKSANDROVA
0883 350 988
asia_al@abv.bg
Toys:
Meral LULECI
0899 904 766
meral@luleci.net
Bric-a-Brac:
Adi Tzanova
0898 686 802
adi@reddevilcatering.com.
Right Rental storehouse, bul. Lomsko Shose No. 288A, Mon.-Fri. 09:00-18:00.
Codeword: for Adi Tzanova for Bric-A-Brac stall
Also donations for raffle, such as bottles of wine, jewelry, new clothes, Christmas decorations,
perfume, picture frames, etc. are appreciated.
Contact person:
Raffle (Tombala): Zarina BENOUN-TAKOVA 0888 308 858 office@iwc-sofia.org
Anyone who is interested in making items for the
Patchwork and Handicraft Stall, please contact the Stallholder:
Dusica Trkulja 980 0948 7dobrihvesti@gmail.com
If you are going to visit your home country or going on holiday, please be reminded that it is time to bring back items which could be sold at the Bazaar or donated to our raffles.
Donors Newsletter No. 2 2012 March
