The Romanian Red Cross has announced the opening of three daycare centers for disadvantaged children and young people in Dolj, Hunedoara, and Botosani counties. The action is part of a project financed by the Velux Foundation through the Danish Red Cross.

Following these openings, a total of 1,500 vulnerable children and young people aged between 6 and 19 and their families will benefit from activities aimed at preventing school dropout, learning new life skills, and improving personal and social skills.

“In Romania, the lack of material goods represents the most invoked reason for dropping out of school. The inability to pay for children’s school supplies, clothing items, and shoes as well as the lack of food are the factors that make parents to no longer send their children to school. We try to cover these material problems through this project, and to give children from poor families a real chance to education,” said Ioan Silviu Lefter, general manager Red Cross Romania.

The Velux Foundation will provide the necessary funds for the centers until late-September 2017. Each of the three centers also has a consultative committee composed of representatives of local authorities, local investors, parents, and teachers whose mission is to find the necessary resources to continue the centers’ socio-educational activities after this date.

The center in Craiova (Dolj county) was opened on Wednesday, February 3, while the one in Lupeni (Hunedoara county) will be inaugurated the next day, on February 4. The day care center in Botosani will be opened at the end of the month.

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Irina Popescu, irina.popescu@romania-insider.com