Romania's swimming star David Popovici urges his fans to mark his 19th birthday by donating to charity. His target is to raise EUR 45,000, money that will be used by the Hope and Homes for Children Foundation to buy an apartment for five brothers, all gifted musicians.

"So that the shortcomings do not rob them of the chance to excel, David is appealing for donations [...] for Andrei, Matei, Bogdan, David, Teodor and their mother. At the end of the campaign (September 4 - 30, 2023), one of the donors will win a meeting with our champion by draw," reads the press release quoted by Agerpres.

The five young musicians have so far won over 100 medals at competitions. Andrei plays the violin and graduated from the Conservatory, Matei and Bogdan study the piano and enter the second year at the Conservatory, and Teodor and David study classical singing and guitar, preparing for the same university.

"My birthday is coming up, I'm turning 19. And I can't help but think about how much I've achieved, how much I've learned from my work and my journey so far, but above all that, I always, always had two parents by my side who were able to give me everything I needed to perform. Because without support, a child cannot excel, no matter how much he wants to," David Popovici said.

"For all the resilience, passion for music and strength of these boys, which not many of us had as small children - I believe we can help them together. We need to raise EUR 45,000 for them to have a house of their own, a point of stability, forever," he added.

Those who want to donate to this campaign can do so on the Galantom platform. Each donation of at least RON 30 automatically enters the draw for a meeting with David Popovici. 

Last year, David Popovici donated his world champion swimming equipment to help build a house for Florentina Filipovici, a former world vice-champion in junior rowing struggling with a difficult family situation. Earlier this year, he also donated the gold medal he won in the men's 200m freestyle at the Budapest World Championships to support children with cancer. 

irina.marica@romania-insider.com

(Photo source: Facebook/Hope and Homes for Children Romania)