Romania will hold the 22nd edition of the annual Christmas Tree festival at the National Art Museum, a fundraising event for the country’s poorest children.
This year, 22 uniquely created trees will be auctioned to raise money for children to have access to education, Save the Children announced.
Education
Last year’s festival raised more than 764,000 euros for education and medical services for vulnerable children, a release said.
„This is a complicated year in which Romanians have shown unlimited generosity earning them praise all over the world. Since the humanitarian crisis began in Ukraine, we have relied on the support of the people, in order to be able to provide immediate humanitarian assistance to children who were fleeing the war, sometimes on foot.,” the statement said.
“We have decided that this edition of the Christmas Tree Festival will tell the story of this solidarity, which is why the funds raised will support access to education of children who are vulnerable to the risk of poverty and war,” Gabriela Alexandrescu, executive president of Save the Children Romania, said.
Last year, Kaufland Romania paid 110,000 euros for the „Involvement” tree that told the story of a vulnerable child.
Another tree decorated by Stefania Mircea and Save the Children was auctioned for 82,000 euros, with support from Lidl Romania, Catena, Romanian Business Consult, Beautik Haute Parfumerie, Andreea Raicu and Mihai Morar.
Hope
Two of the most coveted Christmas trees were „People change-the-world. A biography of hope”, created by Iulia Totoianu, with the support of the Libris.ro and sponsored by Lidl Romania which sold for 50,000 euros and the UNTOLD fir tree – „Luna Magic Tree”, sponsored by Kaufland Romania for the tune of 50,000 euros.
More than 1.5 million children in Romania do not have access to quality education and medical treatment, according to Save the Children.
In 2020, Romanian children were most at risk of severe poverty, according to Eurostat.
Medicine
According to a report by Save the Children Romania in April 2020, 23% of parents were too poor to buy medicine for their children, while 15% said they did not have access to medical services.
