With the fifth “Concert for Life” which was held in homage to Ana and the late maestro Vjekoslav Šutej under the high auspices of the president of the Republic Dr. Ivo Josipović and the patronage of the City of Zagreb, Ana Rukavina’s friends celebrated the most precious thing – life. Maestro Alan Bjelinski conducted this year’s concert program which featured the dynamic rhythms of salsa, while the soloists Ricardo Luque and Olvido Ruiz Castellanos had the numerous visitors of the Vatroslav Lisinski Concert Hall singing along.
The singing audience, which enjoyed the “Salsa Filarmonica” concert program, included the president of the Republic of Croatia, Professor Dr. Ivo Josipović, as well as Milan Bandić, the mayor of Zagreb.
The concert organizers, the Zagreb Philharmonic Orchestra and the Ana Rukavina Foundation, supported by Nova TV, tried to remind citizens that the cure we all carry inside ourselves can save somebody’s life and that it is important to pass on the spirit of civic solidarity and union. The proceeds from the sales of the tickets will be used to support the future work of the Foundation and to help the development of the public cord blood bank. Every processed blood sample is stored in this bank as a direct hematopoietic cell transplant which can save someone’s life in quite a unique way.
There is no other medicine to replace it and there is no way to produce anything of this kind artificially. This is why the motto of the Ana Rukavina Cord Blood Bank is: A new life for a new life.
Owing to the Foundation’s relentless activity, 27 people have been given a new hope for life. Owing to the numerous donors and donators, the initial number of 150 citizens who were registered as voluntary hematopoietic blood donors has increased to an impressive 37,831.
This number means even more to patients and their families and gives them a new hope and a new opportunity for life.
