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Give a dream

LVL 54111,-Raised in Charity Campaign „Fulfill a Dream!”

In order to encourage and give joy to seriously ill children, as well as support the Association of Children’s Palliative Care, for the third year the association aptieka 1 and the Swiss pharmaceutical company Mepha organized the charity campaign “Fulfill a Dream!”

„The overriding idea of this campaign was to give joy to continuously ill children by fulfilling a cherished dream and by organizing a camp for families with seriously ill children that need both physical and psychological relaxation from daily concern. The remainder of the donation will be given to the Association of Children’s Palliative Care, so that they can acquire necessary medical aids” says Ms. Dita Martinsone, representative of aptieka 1, board member of SIA Tamro.

To inform as many people as possible about the campaign “Fulfill a Dream!” and give joy to a bigger number of seriously ill children, in the third year of campaign donations were raised in two ways – in charity portal Ziedot.lv and donation boxes set in pharmacies of association aptieka 1 throughout Latvia.

The responsiveness of people was surprising and during the campaign from November 5, 2007 till January 31,2008 LVL 54 111,- were raised.

„The reponsiveness of people has been fantastic and we are very glad about the good deeds we have already been able to implement and will do in future with the help of the money raised” says Ms. Agita Lazdiņa, the managing director of the Swiss pharmaceutical company Mepha Baltic.

With the help of the raised money we were able to fulfill the dreams of 11 seriously ill children:

„Dreams of eleven children –portable computer, skiing equipment, a toy car with a control unit, synthesizer, BMX bicycle a.o. – it may seem nothing special to healthy, materially independent people but it is different to families with seriously ill children. For example, portable computer that was given to five children – would have been hardly accessible by their own means. It is very importantthat these children get the feeling that they are not alone and the society cares for them,” says Ms.Aina Briede, chaplain of the Association of Children’s Palliative Care.

Dreams implemented in this year’s campaign „Fulfill a Dream”:

• Edīte (5) from Preiļi district received a new skiing equipment (skis, skiing boots, clothing, helmet);
• Deniss (4) from Riga received a big, red toy Range Rover jeep with a control unit;
• Sigita (5) from Riga, Kristers (8) from Grobiņa city in Liepāja district,Pāvels (16) from Liepāja city,Artūrs (6) from Balvi city and Krista (11) from Saldus city each got aportable computer to help in their studies and pass away time during their long stays in the hospital;
• Evita (15) from Auce city received a synthesizer;
• Elvis (10) from Ventspils city received a professional BMX bicycle and safety equipment (helmet, gloves, elbow and knee pads);
• Daniela (3) from Riga received a big, comfortable and practical „little princess” bed;
• Jekaterina (17) from Rēzekne district receivedCDs and DVDs of her idol - beloved Russian singer Maksim.

Unforgettable three days of rest for children together with their families

The idea of recreation camp is to render support to families with seriously ill children who feel exhausted psychologically, physically and often also materially. Six families participated in the camp in Jūrmalacitywhere they received help from such professionals as palliative care experts, doctors, nurses and psychotherapy experts.

For three days the children had the opportunity to participate in different games and physical activities: make and poise a kite, prepare performance for parents, make friendship wristlets, swim in the pool.While the children were engaged in these activities, parents spent the time solely by themselves. It is essential as the parents are physically exhausted from continuously being together with the sick child. Therefore in this camp the parents could enjoy the activities in pool and treatment in spa (later they confessed it had been fantastic as none of them had previously been to a spa).

Financial support to the Association of Children’s Palliative Care for buying new equipment

The Association plans to acquire individual artificial lung ventilation appliance, oxygen appliance, pulse oxymeter as well as renew the range of toys for sandbox therapy. „Presently the diagnoses become more complicated and we have more children in serious condition who need all this equipment to support their life functions. During sand therapy with the help of different toys the children learn to express themselves and thus the doctor can see how they feel and how to help them,” Dr.Anda Jansone, the manager of the Association of Children’s Palliative Care explains the needs of sick children and the Association.

The charity campaign was actively supported by the pupils ofMadliena Secondary school.Ms.Elita Atslēdziņa, deputy director told „Every year before Christmas we liven up to implement some good deed. This year we chose to support the charity campaign „Fulfill a Dream!” because its aim is to bring joy to seriously ill children had deeply touched our pupils” . In December the pupils raised LVL 208,65.

However, the charity campaign „Fulfill a Dream!” was not protected from evil people.In December in „Lejas aptieka”, located in Gulbene city, the charity box with money was stolen (according to pharmacy manager’s estimate – about LVL 200,-). The pharmacy manager was very upset by this accident but the story has a bright side, too. On the day when a new charity box was brought to the pharmacy to continue collection of donations, a young man who had learned about the accident, put a LVL 100,- banknote into the box.

“Fulfill a Dream!” is very grateful to all benefactors, to pharmacies of association aptieka 1 – for active participation, as well as to supporters: charity portal Ziedot.lv, portal Draugiem.lv, radio station SWH!

LVL 10000 Raised for Implementation of Dreams and Medical Care of Seriously Ill Children

In 2006 within the framework of the charity campaign „Give a Dream” a special CD under the same title was issued. It contains 20 tracks sung by popular Latvian singers (Deniss Paškevičs, Intars Busulis, Gustavo, Amber, Gunārs Kalniņš a.o.) as well as by four girls under the surveillance of the Association of Children’s Palliative Care. The CD was sold in over 220 pharmacies involved in Tamro Pharmacy Program throughout Latvia.

„This project has been a source of great satisfaction for everyone, therefore I would like to thank everyone involved – both musicians who found time for recording this CD and people who bought the CD thus supporting the noble idea of implementation of sick children’s dreams. We can be happy for the chance to fulfill a child’s dream,” says one of the originators of this project, Ms. Agita Lazdiņa, the managing director of the Swiss pharmaceutical company Mepha.

The sum of donation consists of the means acquired by the sold CDs as well as additional financing of the organizers.

Ms. Dita Martinsone, the managing director of Tamro SIA remarks that the project has found response not only among the customers who have bought the CD actively but also among pharmacy employees – two of the involved pharmacies have made individual donations – Vecpiebalgas pharmacyhas additionally donated LVL 869, and Liepas pharmacy – LVL 250.

„Can a human being live without dreams? I would like to encourage anyone not to be afraid of dreaming of big matters. Personally I do not agree with the belief that a dream will not come true if it is told to someone. It will come true. It has been proved also by this project. Big matters can be done together, by just speaking to people. The campaign „Give a Dream” involved many people, and as a result a dream told by a child has come true.It’s a big satisfaction to see happiness in the faces of children and their parents caused by implementation of one’s dream,” says the chaplain Ms. Aina Briede, deputy chairwoman of the Association of Children’s Palliative Care.

1800 copies of the CD„Fulfill a Dream” have been sold in a record time – less than three months. According to Latvian music experts, it’s an incredibly high ratio for CD sales in Latvia.

The charity project "Give a Dream!" collected Ls 6500 for chronically ill children

In 2005, pharmaceutical wholesaler Tamro in co-operation with the Swiss pharmaceutical company Mepha organized the charity drive "Give a Dream!" collecting funds to fulfill the dreams of chronically ill children as well as to support The Society for Children’s Palliative Care. The charity drive took place at Tamro Pharmacy Program (TPP) pharmacies from March through September. Anyone who purchased one of the greeting cards created by the children was able to participate. In addition, Mepha and TPP donated a percentage of their proceeds from each prescription-free Mepha medicine sold.

The "Give a Dream!" project began with a children’s art camp. Ten chronically ill children were given the opportunity to draw their dreams and fondest wishes under the guidance of artist Jānis Anmaņis. These drawings were reproduced as greeting cards and distributed to TPP pharmacies throughout Latvia.

The response to this charity drive far exceeded expectations. More than 40000 Latvian citizens donated a total of Ls 6500 to realize the dreams of chronically ill children and to The Society for Children’s Palliative Care.

Of the Ls 6500 donated, Ls 1500 were used to realize the dreams of the chronically ill children, but Ls 5000 were donated to The Society for Children’s Palliative Care. This money will be used to purchase medical apparatus – oxygen machines and medical suction pumps - that will allow chronically ill children to be treated at home. The Director of The Society for Children’s Palliative Care, Dr. Anda Jansone, states that if one considers the physio-emotional aspect of healing, it is much more effective to treat children at home because the child is in familiar surroundings and has his parents nearby. This lets him use his energy to fight the illness. The society also plans to use the funds to purchase necessary dietary and other medical supplies for proper care of the children.

"We are very happy that so many Latvian citizens have been supportive of our idea to fulfill the dreams of chronically ill children and to find financial support for The Society for Children’s Palliative Care. The result of this campaign makes it clear that people are becoming more socially responsible every day.They care about the problems of others and are willing to help," concludes Mepha Baltic executive director Agita Lazdiņa.

"The aim of this project was not only to help specific children, but also to focus society’s attention on palliative care, which is still an unknown, but not unimportant, area of health care for many people in Latvia. The countless calls and anonymous donations to The Society for Children’s Palliative Care are a testimony to the fact that we were able reach the public. We are pleased and proud of our accomplishment", said Tamro sales Director Rolands Šlosbergs.

With the funds that we were able to gather during this charity drive we were also able to sponsor a trip to an international camp in Estonia for the children and their parents, as well as an excursion to Ventspils in co-operation with the Ventspils city council. "For many families, the greater part of their resources go to the care of the sick child, so excursions and vacations away from home remain a dream. Thanks to this project, many families had a chance, if only for a short while, to get a change of scene. This is very significant for the healing process," says Dr. A. Jansone.

10 children’s dreams

Emīlija (6 years old)
Because of her complicated illness, she has to spend a lot of time at home. Her new computer will help her to study.

Elvis (10 years old)
With the help of his new computer he will be able to master the computer skills that are necessary for life in the modern world.

Laima (11 years old)
She dreams of becoming a musician and her new synthesizer will be very useful as she practices to get closer to her dream.

Daniela (4 years old)
All she wanted was "Baby Born" baby carriage.

Katrīna (3 years old)
Was very happy to receive the puzzle game she had been longing for.

Donāts (4 years old)
He got an airplane with remote control.

Kristers (4 years old)
He received a pair of roller skates.

Beāta (11 years old)
Her illness makes it impossible for her to get around by herself and she spends the greater part of the day in a wheel chair. Now she has a brand new, easily adaptable and transformable model.

Annija (11 years old)
Her fondest dream was to take care of a miniature rabbit at home and now this dream has come true.

Liāna (7 years old)
She loves to sing and so was given a stereo that can be used to sing karaoke.

Drawings of children
The path of campaign