Christmas Gift to Children in Need
Astra Park hosted a very nice occasion on December 22. Charity and kindness are at last becoming fashionable in Georgia. Undoubtedly, Georgians cherish children. Iavnana Foundation is another bright example of that. For years, it has been in the service of helping children in need. This time, on the cusp of the New Year’ s celebration, multi-children families with social needs were treated to a festive feast, as well as to the wide variety of entertainment Astra Park offers.
Forty five children aged from two years to young teenagers had a chance to watch 7D super-modern film screening, as well as participate in different games and dance-along karaoke. The New Year’s disposition was added to by Santa Claus and animators.
The Iavnana foundation has existed since 2004. Its main goal is to save the future generation, organize high-class gala concerts and events in Georgia and abroad, and help children deprived of parental care to improve their social conditions, as well as assist talented children in their future studies and motivation. Its founder is Paata Burchuladze, world-renowned opera bass singer, who in 2006 was made the UN Ambassador of Good Will, while in 2010, was awarded the same title by UNICEF. “I want to extend special thanks to Astra Park. It is a pity that we can color only one day for these kids who are here for the first time,” Burchuladze, a great singer and philanthropist, said.
“It is already a good tradition of our foundation to hold such activities for kids during the pre-Christmas period. Astra Park is our partner in this positive undertaking. We have a database and choose children from it, sent from the social agency under the Ministry of Health and Labor Protection. This data is constantly updated,” Teo Jorbenadze, Artistic Director of Iavnana, told Georgia Today.
Iavnana Foundation was represented together with its friends. Giorgi Bakhutashvili, actor, was one of them: “It was the children’s New Year’s wish to meet me and came with pleasure. I believe that such activities should become more and more frequent. It must not be a matter of showing off in front of the cameras. We should worry about these children’s future even more so as there is a great number of socially unprotected kids,” Giorgi told us.
These children, at least for a day, had smiling and happy faces. Vitali Kalutski, a 12-year-old boy, was one of them: “I have done karting, driven a motorbike, a jeep, played games and I am really happy,” he said.
Natali, 6, shared her impressions: “We danced and sang. I saw Santa Claus and Snow White. When they asked me what I would like to get for Christmas, I told them I wanted a microphone and a piano. They promised they would do what they could to make my wish come true.”
Those who wish to help the children and give to charity, can do so by calling or texting 0-901-30-30-30 or visiting the website www.iavnana.ge
Maka Lomadze