Valamar made a donation to the Ana Rukavina Foundation and gave scholarships to 11 underprivileged pupils and students.
At a press conference on Tuesday in Zagreb, Valamar, the leading tourist group in Croatia, donated a total of 100,000 Kuna. Half of the donation went to the Humanitarian Organization Dora for scholarships for 11 underprivileged pupils and students for the 2007-2008 school year. The other 50,000 Kuna was donated to the Ana Rukavina Foundation for the continuation of their successful work on the development of the voluntary bone marrow donor Registry and the establishment of the cord blood bank.
While handing over the donation check, the president of the board of Valamar, Peter Fuchs, and board member, Zrinko Kamber, told us that the companies which make up the Valamar Group (Riviera Poreč, Rabac, Zlatni Otok Krk, Dubrovnik-Babin Kuk, Valamar Hotels and Resorts, Valamar Tourist Projects, Dom Holding) decided that instead of buying Christmas presents for their business partners this year, they would donate the funds to the people who needed them more.
“We have recognized the aforementioned projects based on their recent activities and the quality of their work to improve society’s knowledge and health. We are happy that we can contribute, and we invite other companies in Croatia to join in building a better society for us and for our children,” said Zrinko Kamber.
On behalf of the Ana Rukavina Foundation the donation was gratefully accepted by Marija Rukavina, the president of the Foundation and mother of the late journalist, Ana. “In the year since Ana’s death, from the time we started our Foundation, we have raised 4.5 million Kuna, we have added 30,000 names to the voluntary bone marrow donor Registry, and we have established a public cord blood bank. We were told by an American institution that these results were incredible, because we can compare them to the USA registering 2.5 million new donors in six months,” said Marija Rukavina as she pointed out that the donation from the Valamar Group will cover the expenses of tissue typing 50 blood samples. She also announced that they would soon establish a private cord blood bank, for which they have been waiting a long time for authorization from the Ministry of Health.
Renata Gubić, the director of the Humanitarian Organization Dora, said that this donation would help 11 young people in Croatia, who are in especially difficult family and financial situations, have a chance at an education. “To some people, 500 Kuna a month doesn’t seem like much. However, for these kids, it means a lot, because this will allow them to cover the cost of traveling to school and university, as well as pay for student housing and meal tickets, which are basic conditions for their continued education,” said Renata Gubić. Once again she thanked all the companies in the Valamar Group for this human act.