The charitable association Ovidiu Rom has achieved its target of raising money to support 1,200 children in kindergarden at the Halloween Charity Ball organized on Saturday, October 30, at the Palace of the Parliament. The association raised money both from corporate sponsors and from individuals, which varied between EUR 50 and EUR 11,000.

A donation of EUR 440 will keep a child in kindergarden for a year. The charity's goal was of EUR 530,000 euros for the 2011 budget. Last year, Ovidiu Rom raised EUR 350,000 at the charity ball but the association switched its fund raising strategy from auctioning expensive items to allowing guests to contribute even small amount and thus enter a raffle to win donated items.

The event, already at its sixth edition, was organized under the patronage of the Romanian Foreign Affairs Minister and the Ministry Teodor Baconschi (in picture) attended the gala on Saturday evening. US actor Nicolas Cage, who is shooting a movie in Romania, has attended Ovidiu Rom’s Halloween charity ball, invited by actor Ethan Hawke, who attended last year’s gala. Cage arrived with his wife Alice Kim and his five-year old son, Kal-el Coppola Cage. He left before midnight as he is shooting for the Ghost Rider sequel in Romania.

The charity Ovidiu Rom was started by Leslie Hawke and by Maria Gheorghiu. In 2001, the two founders started with several programs in Bacau to help families in extreme poverty become better equipped to support themselves. They established Asociatia Ovidiu Rom in 2004 and expanded the programs to Bucharest. In 2006, Ovidiu Rom embarked on a national initiative, Fiecare Copil in Scoala, to get every child in Romania in school at an early age and on the path toward high school graduation. The association's current program focuses on getting every impoverished child in kindergarten, to increase their chances of staying in school later on.

editor@romania-insider.com