Money was raised through telephone calls which viewers made to members of the Croatian football representation, during a fundraising evening. Funds will be used to buy equipment for the Clinic for Child Diseases and providing scholarships for children without parental care.
Heart of Fire is a humanitarian organization run by the Croatian football representation. It was founded 10 years ago, and during its work the organization has supported different organizations and initiatives of social importance. The organization is headed by Dr. Josip Paladino, while the Board of Trustees includes the representation captain Luka Modric, coach Zlatko Dalic and doctors Zoran Bahtievic and Boris Nemec.
During the night, a mini-call center was active, whereby citizen could talk to the football players. Due to a very high response rate, the funds were raised in just one hour. The evening was completed by a diverse music program, as well as an art exhibition by Stephan Lupin, who donated some of his works for this occasion.
During the evening almost EUR 61,500 (KN 456,500), and money was split between two causes: one half is meant for buying medical equipment for the Clinic for Child Diseases Zagreb, and the second half went towards the initiative A Step into Life (Korak u život), which provides scholarships for children without parents.
Luka Modric, who has recently been named the best player in the world, explained what being involved in the foundation means to him:
“I am delighted to be in the Board of Heart of Fire, and so continue to tradition of previous team captains Darijo Srna and Nika Kovac. It is very nice to be involved in the work of the foundation, and I see this as a great responsibility. I am very proud that the representation has been helping this foundation over many years, and hope that our supporters will take part in this initiative, so that we can all help children together”, said Modric.
The charity phone number is 060 9004 and it will be active until 3rd December. The price of one call is EUR 0.84 (KN 6.25).
Source: vijesti.hrt.hr