A huge THANK YOU to everone who supported Children of Colombia’s Christmas Bed Appeal and helped to raise just over £3000* – way beyond our original target and our expectations. As soon as we receive the last donations from Just Giving we will transfer the money to Hogares Luz y Vida to purchase specialist, hospital style beds to provide better care and comfort for some of the very sick children who live at the home in downtown Bogotá. We will follow the process closely from purchase order to delivery and will post pictures of the beds in use as soon as they are delivered.
A very special thank you goes to Samuel and Gabriel Gelvez-Zapata, two little boys in Cambridge, UK, who set up their own Just Giving page to support Children of Colombia’s Bed Appeal and raised over £700 towards the total.
Sandra, their mum, contacted us after five-year old Samuel said he would like to do something special to help less fortunate children in Colombia at Christmas time. A Colombian working as a hospital consultant in the UK, Sandra is very aware of the added difficulties of caring for vulnerable people during the current pandemic. She wrote:
“One day my son Samuel came home from school asking me how he and his brother could collect some money to help children in need from Colombia this Christmas… What do you do as a parent when your 5-year old tells you that? Well, to start fundraising was the first thing that came to my mind.
“We want to support this charity (Children of Colombia) because they help 3 foundations in Colombia and due to the current situation, there are more children who need a special environment to be safe.”
Samuel painted rocks with beautiful bright rainbows to say a special thank you to his supporters living in Cambridge or working at Addenbrookes Hospital, Royal Papworth Hospital or Lister Hospital. We – and everyone at Luz y Vida – are so grateful to Samuel for his thoughtfulness for others, his inspiration and all his hard work painting rainbows. He is truly a very special young man.
*Includes Gift Aid before Just Giving fees.