The Ana Rukavina Foundation raised 1.5 million kuna with the humanitarian hotline number
On Friday, more than 30,000 people enjoyed the wonderful atmosphere and the music of the top domestic musicians at Zagreb’s main square while supporting the work of the Ana Rukavina Foundation and contributing to realizing Ana’s dream! Throughout the sixth consecutive “I Want Life” concert, citizens called the humanitarian hotline number 060 9000 a total of 240,953 times and in that way donated 1,481,861 kuna for the further tissue typing of blood samples which is incredibly important for the Croatian Registry of hematopoietic stem cells to be as operational as possible.
With the free concert on Ban Josip Jelačić Square, as well as the live broadcast on Nova TV, the Ana Rukavina Foundation once again thanked the citizens who with their unselfish donations helped achieve the mission of the Foundation – saving lives. On Friday our well known domestic stars prepared an exceptional musical night, which turned into a celebration with 30,000 citizens gathering on the main square, even stopping the traffic of the ZET trams. The performers included: Boris Novković, Dražen Zečić, E.T., Feminem, Goran Karan, Halid Bešlić, Iva Herceg, Ivana and Marija Husar, Jasmin Stavros, Jole, Klapa Intrade, Luka Nižetić, Maja Šuput, Massimo, Miroslav Škoro, Novi fosili and Prljavo kazalište. The Foundation really has a reason to celebrate: the work of the Ana Rukavina Foundation has saved 13 lives until now. This is thanks to the many donors who over the past five years have enabled the successful work of the Foundation by increasing the growth of the Croatian Registry of hematopoietic stem cells which currently lists more than 33,000 voluntary donors, of which more than 26,000 blood samples have already been tissue typed. With the aim of tissue typing the remaining 7,000 blood samples, for which it is necessary to raise 7 million kuna, respectable persons from Croatia’s public life answered calls from citizens and accepted donations in the call center, including the President of the Republic of Croatia, Ivo Josipović.
“We see how many lives were saved and that Croatia has joined the global action to save lives. Tens of thousands of our people are ready to help. Generosity is something that our citizens show very often; and even if they have little money themselves, they are still ready to share it with those who need it the most by participating in money raising events. This action represents the pinnacle of humanity. The initiative is truly worthy of all praise. My message is that we must always wish well and be willing to help our fellow citizens, friends, children and parents. Humanity is what characterizes human nature: let us be good, let us be generous,” said President Josipović.
Prior to the concert, an action to join the Registry of voluntary hematopoietic stem cell donors took place on the square, with 303 citizens deciding to donate blood for tissue typing and increasing the chances of saving someone’s life. Many of the Foundation’s friends, as well as celebrities from Nova TV, took on the roles of donors and sellers of the Foundation promotional materials, including: Boris Banović, Mirna Maras, Ivana Tomić, Jurica Radović, Dorijan Elezović , Šime Sušić , Viktorija Novosel, Ivana Šutej, Ivica Prtenjača, Robert Zuber, Sanja Mikleušević and Bojana Greogorić. Due to the citizens’ great interest in joining the Registry, an action will also be held today, December 17th, on the main square from 11 AM to 2 PM.
The work of the Foundation continues with the mission of saving human lives!