We have already surpassed USD 500,000 (BGN 900,000) in donations from our donors, for which we are extremely grateful. Our next goal is to be able to donate equipment, tools and goods for children in Bulgaria worth over BGN 1,000,000. This is very achievable and we will work hard to achieve this goal as well. Thank you from the bottom of my heart to our volunteers, donors, sponsors and supporters, said Polina Yordanova, co-founder, president and chairman of the Children of Bulgaria organization, in an interview for the “BG World” column of BTA.
She told the history of the organization created in New York by her and Orlin Yordanov.
In the summer of 2013, both of them had to visit the hospital “N. I. Pirogov” in Sofia. They are touched by the kindness of the doctors and decide to help as much as they can from the US, where they live. In November of the same year, they organized a charity cocktail party in New York and were encouraged by the responsiveness of the Bulgarians there. They manage to collect 10,000 dollars, they also attract other volunteers to the organization. This is how they implemented the first project of “Children of Bulgaria”, which is for the children’s department in “N. I. Pirogov”.
“We delivered a set of instruments for laparoscopic (minimally invasive) surgery to the children’s ward of Pirogov. These tools are especially important when performing surgery on babies and toddlers and help save babies’ lives! We also supplied three systems for measuring the pressure in the pleural cavity of the lungs of newborns and children. The systems are necessary for the diagnosis and treatment of pneumothorax,” Yordanova pointed out.
According to her, the organization is named “Children of Bulgaria” because not only does it help children in the homeland, but all the organizers and volunteers are also children of Bulgaria. After the initial success, the organization grew over the next 10 years, attracting donors from all over the world and successfully completing 11 projects for children in Bulgaria.
At the moment “Children of Bulgaria” is led by eight volunteers: Polina Yordanova – president and chairman; Orlin Yordanov – Executive Vice President and Director of Operations; Kamen Stoykov – Vice President of the Board of Directors and Director of Development; Pavel Piperkov – member of the Board of Directors and Director of Finance; Tsvetelina Kemalova – marketing director; Asen Harizanov – legal consultant; Iglika Mateeva-Drincheva – UX designer; Maya Stefanov – Public Relations Coordinator.
Polina Yordanova added that Polina Gerontieva, Bedo Stambolyan and Maria Vasileva were also “fundamental to the success of the organization” in the past.
She also pointed out that the causes that the organization supports are many and varied:
“We have helped schools for visually impaired and hearing impaired children, centers for socially disadvantaged children, orphanages, centers and schools for children with special needs, centers for children with autism, children’s and maternity wards in hospitals . We try to help children all over Bulgaria, both in big cities and in small villages. We are all volunteers and the donations received go directly to the children. The suppliers are mostly from Bulgaria – this is how we further help the country’s economy. We always negotiate the best prices and use discounts as a charity. After the completion of each project, we publish detailed financial reports on our website – we are committed to full transparency to our donors and supporters. Our current campaign is for children with special needs and autism in Southeast Bulgaria and Pernik – you can help here.”
Polina Yordanova said that they are looking for projects where they can be of the greatest benefit:
“Since we don’t send money, but buy and deliver equipment, furniture, materials and tools, we choose projects where they are needed. For example, we built a playground for hearing-impaired children in Varna, delivered incubators, beds, medical cabinets, infusion pumps and monitors for pediatric departments in hospitals, bought furniture, specialized equipment and teaching aids for children with special needs in different cities, built a salt room for a center for special educational support in Dolni Dabnik, we equipped specialized offices and donated specialized software and a vision control system to children with special needs in Plovdiv and many others. We choose establishments whose management is as responsive and interested as we are in the well-being of children. In the past, we have mainly helped children in specialized centers and schools and children’s wards in hospitals, but it is possible to expand our activities to include ordinary schools around the country.”
She also described the steps of a charity campaign:
“Proposals for projects come either from an external source or from ourselves, after we have researched the needs of various institutions for children in Bulgaria. Typically around November each year, the Board of Directors holds a series of meetings where we select and announce our next project where we feel we will be of most benefit. We choose the best prices and suppliers, negotiate and make the deliveries. We publish the financial statements online after the completion of each campaign.”
According to Yordanova, most donors are from the Bulgarian community abroad or people connected in some way with Bulgaria.
“There are many donors from Bulgaria as well. We have also received donations from Bulgarian companies. We list the names of our top donors below each project on our website as a sign of gratitude and appreciation. Some of them choose to remain anonymous. Many American companies double or even triple the donations of their employees, and in this way we also receive donations from companies based in the States. We also had sponsors for our fundraisers in New York. They are Rubella, PAAY, Parrot Coffee Grocery and No. 5 NYC. We hope to attract other sponsors in the future,” added the president of “Children of Bulgaria”.
