Natakhtari Fund Launches 6th Fundraising Wave

Natakhtari Fund announced the start of its 6th fundrasing wave at a press conference held at Radisson Blu Iveria Hotel Tbilisi, last week. The results of the six-year work of the foundation were also presented to the public. The event was attended by the Natakhtari Fund management representatives and NGOs involved within the Natakhtari Fund activities, encompassing the assistance of youth outside the childcare system.

Cuneyt Arat, General Director of the Nataktari Company; Nikoloz Khundzakishvili, Corporate Affairs Director at Natakhtari; and Manana Omarashvili, Head of Psychological Service of the Association ‘Our House-Georgia,’ talked about the advocacy campaign initiated by Natakhtari Fund which supports the socially deprived and vulnerable youth groups within the Fund’s ‘Take Care of the Future’ project, aiming to assist socially deprived youngsters in pursuing an education and finding employment opportunities.

Natakhtari Company established the Natakhtari Fund in 2011 with the launch of the charity ‘Take Care of Youth’. Every year, from each bottle of Natakhtari Lemonade sold, one to five Tetri go to the Fund.

In the six years since establishment, GEL 757, 864 was raised and 307 young people were provided education and employment assistance. The project is run together with the Our House-Georgia Association and supported by Ilia II, Patriarch of Georgia.

“Natakhtari Company will continue to finance this project as long as such support is needed,” Khundzakishvili, said at the event.

“We’re helping young children and youth according to their needs, be it providing a shelter or financing their education and various courses, or covering their transportation costs,” said Omarashvili of Our House-Georgia. “The major advantage of the Natakhtari Fund is that each and every young person we’re helping is a separate case and our approach to each is individual. In our realm, it’s the only project which does not stop its service or assistance when young people reach 18 years of age: the project follows them to the point untill they are ready to live independently”.

Alongside the fundraising activities for the Natakhtari Fund, the program for the support of children and youth outside the childcare system, initiated by the Coalition for Children and Youth, written for the local self-government institutions in Georgia, was also discussed during the press-conference.

As Natakhtari Fund is working with socially deprived young children from family type shelters, the Fund offers cooperation possibilities to the local self-governance authorities in this direction. Within the expected cooperation, the Fund is able to assess the needs of the youngsters, plan interventions and conduct monitoring, while local authorities can be involved through renting housing for them, paying communal fees or covering transportation costs.

Nino Kviria, Head of the Healthcare and Social Services Department at Rustavi Municipality, attended the press confrerence and expressed great interest in cooperation. A meeting with the Rustavi Mayor is planned for November 15 to discuss the issues related to the assistance of the children and youth outside the childcare system.

Nino Gugunishvili