Kazanluk hosts children’s charity event

On Friday 26 – Sunday 28 May The Cedar Foundation, a Bulgarian-based charity benefitting children, held their first fundraising auction event. The foundation, whose aim is to “facilitate and enable the people of Bulgaria to meet the needs of their own communities”, held a charity auction at The Palace Hotel in the town of Kazanluk in the Valley of the Roses, central Bulgaria.

The event aimed to raise awareness of the needs of some of the institutions in and around the Kazanluk area, and also to raise funds to continue the work that the Cedar Foundation has started with:

the school/orphanage for children with hearing impairments in the neighbouring village of Maglish

the St Maria Luisa hospital/orphanage for severely disabled children in the neighbouring village of Buzovgrad the disabled club in the town of Kazanluk.

Mayor of Kazanluk Stefan Damianov, Irish ambassador Geoffrey Keating, Laura Parker from the international charity ARC (Absolute Return for Kids), Marie Halbherr from the International Women’s Club and her husband Josef Halbherr, managing director of the Kempinski Hotel Grand Hermitage at Golden Sands, were among those who attended the charity weekend events, as well as guests from the British embassy and local business.

The Cedar Foundation gave a presentation of their work with the orphanages in Maglish and Buzovgrad. Mark O’Sullivan, director of The Cedar Foundation, presented the director of the school in Maglish, which is home to 40 hearing-impared children, with 15 000 leva that the foundation had secured from generous sponsors from Canada, Switzerland, and England. Mark O’Sullivan also presented the director of the St Maria Luisa hospital with 15 000 leva, secured from English sponsors. Part of the donations will go towards the installation of a new heating system in St Maria Luisa to replace the old heating system and save 12 000 leva a month in heating bills.

O’Sullivan, together with Marie Halbherr, presented a manager of the disabled club in Kazanluk 3000 leva to go towards a years’ salary for a social worker who will work closely with the parents and children that use the club.

The auction raised a total of 4000 leva. Prizes included: two day stays at the the Radisson SAS, Grand Hotel Sofia, the Kempinski Grand Hermitage Hotel Golden Sands, and the Hilton; a weekend in Bansko; paintings and ceramic art; a scenic flight over the rose valleys of Kazanluk; dinners at Murphy’s Pub and the French restaurant L’etranger in Sofia; luxurious chocolates from the new French shop Jeff de Brugge, Sofia, and icons by young local artist Albena Zdrafkova. Irish ambassador Keating took part in the auction, successfully bidding for items including an icon of St Nicholas by Zdrafkova.

After-dinner entertainment was provided by Bulgaria singer Ani Lozanova.

On Saturday, guests from Sofia were treated to various attractions of the Kazanluk region, including the Thracian tomb, the Shipka monument gold-domed church and lunch at the river-side restaurant the Golden Anchor at the site of the proposed restoration of a Thracian city.

In the afternoon, a charity rugby match took place between The Murphy’s Misfits and the Bulgarian Barbarians, sponsored by Murphy’s Bar, Siemens and New York Pub Kazanluk.

The Bulgarian Barbarians triumphed over the Misfits, winning the match 17: 5.

In the evening, in the presence of the Irish ambassador and some of the rugby players, a total of about 100 guests, including expats from Sofia and Kazanluk, were treated to an open air performance of traditional Bulgarian folk music and dance at the new Zornista garden restaurant where O’Sullivan presented the Irish ambassador a bottle of rakia to say a big Irish “thank you” for his support.

On Sunday, 12 guests from Sofia went on a further tour of the rose valley, on which they had the opportunity to pick roses, see the rose oil distillation process and enjoy traditional Bulgarian food and music at a village tavern in Tarnichene.

The event generated positive feedback from the guests. “It was a great event, definitely one of the best fundraisers I’ve been to,” said Laura Parker. “The Cedar Foundation inspires people to do things as well as give generously, which is brilliant.”

“We thoroughly enjoyed the Cedar Foundation’s fundraiser weekend in Kazanluk,” said Marie Halbherr. “It was charity, culture, sightseeing and entertainment all in one – in other words a weekend celebration in great company that combined the satisfaction of helping a good cause with the pleasures of culture and sheer good fun.”

The Irish embassy expressed great pleasure at being part of such a fresh and well organised event, and looks forward to being involved in further Cedar Foundation initiatives.

O’Sullivan, said that it was a “wonderful experience” to have such a large turnout for their first ever fundraiser. “The support from Laura, Marie, as well as from the ambassador, just really confirms to me that there are people out there who really care enough about the needs of Bulgarian children to do something about it. We look forward to seeing these same friends of the Cedar Foundation, and hopefully new ones too, at our next year’s fundraiser.”

Official sponsors of the event: Siemens, Murphy’s Bar, the Radisson Hotel, Grand Hotel Sofia, the Kempinski Grand Hermitage Hotel Golden Sands, the Hilton Hotel Sofia, Jamadvice, New York Pizza Pub Kazanluk, European School of English, Iskra newspaper, Vis Vitalis Radio, Millenium Restaurant Kazanluk, & Vimaks.



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