Initiated by BG4UA, together with the BCause Foundation, the fundraising campaign "A NEW BEGINNING for the Ukrainian Women and Children in Bulgaria" enters a new stage.
The campaign will allocate 210,000 BGN - a large portion of the funds collected so far, to support the Integration center for Ukrainian refugees of Foundation "Za dobroto", which has a key role in resolving the refugee crisis from the very first days of the war. The purpose of the financing is to support a large extension of the center's functioning in the next six months.
As of June 13th, Monday, the center expands its activities and services and relocates to a new address: 1 "Philip Kutev" str, Hladilnika, central office of Overgas Inc. in Sofia.
The purpose of the change is to facilitate the integration of Ukrainian refugees - predominantly women and children.
The center will provide humanitarian aid, hourly daycare for children, assistance to receive a temporary protection status, assistance in accessing legal help, psychological help, medical care, assistance in administrative matters (social and health insurance, registering in school). It will provide support for accommodations and job applications as well as for the organization of language courses.
The donations will be used mainly for the maintenance of a qualified team for the listed services – the payment of salaries/fees, remuneration of external services and materials. Until now the "Za dobroto" Foundation has helped more than 10,000 Ukrainians.
"Our partnership with "Za dobroto" Foundation is key for us as organizers of A NEW BEGINNING because it corresponds to the original idea of the campaign, namely - to facilitate the Ukrainian citizens, and particularly the women and children, in their adaptation to the environment in our country," says Elina Zheleva, member of the campaign Board.
"Right at this moment the support of "A NEW BEGINNING for the Ukrainian women and children in Bulgaria" was extremely important for us in order to continue the function of the center for support at the scale we managed to achieve in the past 3 months, " said Kremena Kuneva, founder of "Za Dobroto", on the day in which the partnership was signed. "On the edge of all our efforts, without this partnership we would have most likely not managed to provide this entire package of services and opportunities. For us it is of high importance to provide these people not only with material support, but also emotional support. We are happy that our work has built the trust required for this new partnership, and even friendship," she added.
"The Foundation "Za Dobroto" has undeniable authority and proven efficiency in handling several crises until now, including the first critical months of the pandemic, while we also admire their efforts in improving children's health care in Bulgaria with renovating four children's wards," said Max Gurvitz, initiator of BG4UA.
What did "A NEW BEGINNING for the Ukrainian women and children in Bulgaria" achieve so far
In the last few months around 1300 refugees from the war in Ukraine have been supported throughout the entire territory of Bulgaria under the framework of the campaign "A NEW BEGINNING" in the direction of social integration, education, psychological and therapeutic help, Bulgarian language courses , educational workshops and sports activities with the amount of 304,000 BNG.
A Crisis Fund with BGN 80,000 to cover urgent needs was also created with funds from the campaign, which at the moment is redirected to support the dynamic situation of the relocation of refugees. The urgent aid currently provides food worth almost BGN 45,000 to over 360 Ukrainian citizens accommodated in six state bases.
The campaign is working in three directions – supporting organizations on the territory of Bulgaria, which work actively in the field with refugees, covering urgent needs with the specially created fund and planning a sustainable long-term base to support Ukrainian mothers and children in Bulgaria.
Key contributions to the campaign are the corporate donations, out of which the biggest donor is NEXO. The rest of the bigger donors are ECONT, TBI Bank, Endeavor, Accenture, A Data Pro and Scalefocus. So far the campaign has been supported by 301 donors, who are making the support possible.
For BG4UA
#BG4UA "Bulgaria for Ukraine" is an initiative of Bulgarian entrepreneurs, representatives of the technological community and friends of Ukraine supporting those running away from the horrors of the war.
The initiative began on the first day of the war. It started with the evacuation of Ukrainian citizens who chose Bulgaria for their temporary home. A platform was created bringing together 3000 volunteers – people and organizations from all over Bulgaria providing accommodation, volunteering help and emergency support. A volunteering contact center is finding accommodation and providing support to the Ukrainians in the very first moments after arriving in Bulgaria.
Together with "Za Dobroto" Foundation, BG4UA continues with the fundraising campaign "A NEW BEGINNING". The aim is to ensure the most humane welcoming possible to refugees from Ukraine and a chance for life in Bulgaria.
"Za Dobroto" Foundation
"Za dobroto" Foundation's cause is child care and the creation of a friendly environment for their medical treatment and education. The foundation is rallying thousands of volunteers and donors for their nearly 20 campaigns from 2020 until now.
Throughout this year, together with the management of one of the largest centers for Ukrainian refugee support, the foundation implemented 3 more initiatives. #SVETULKA is a national project for the creation of a medical environment in pediatrics that integrates doctors, children and their parents. The scholarship fund for 28 children of doctors, medical workers and teachers who passed away during the COVID pandemic also continues to work - it will exist until the children reach legal age.
The foundation organized an hourly childcare center in the first days of the war against Ukraine. Together with Muzeiko, "America for Bulgaria" Foundation and Foundation "Teach for Bulgaria" an all-day children's center was created, while together with the Jewish Cultural House "Shalom" another day care center for Ukrainian children was established. Educators, pedagogues and psychologists take care of more than 120 children across the three centers.
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