Holidays end with Lek Games and Silly Olympics

This year, with the help of the Wink at the Sun charity campaign, which has been held for 12 years by the Slovenian Association of Friends of Youth and Lek, a Sandoz company, and other humanitarian projects, nearly 1400 children enjoyed completely free holidays – to date, the Wink at the Sun campaign has made holidays possible for more than 8000 children

27. 8. 2010

Today in Maribor the children gathered for the last time before the beginning of the new school year, and were treated to the Silly Olympics by the Slovenian Association of Friends of Youth. Together with the SAFY, Lek, a Sandoz company held its annual Lek Games, which it has organized for several years as part of the holidays made possible by the Wink at the Sun campaign.

The holidays are over, but their pleasant memories can help brighten the first few days of the new school year; for this very reason, all children should have the opportunity to enjoy relaxing, creative and interesting holidays. The Slovenian Association of Friends of Youth and Lek, a Sandoz company, have worked together for 12 years to carry out the Wink at the Sun charity campaign, which has made holidays possible for more than 8000 children who would otherwise not have been able to take part in the wonderful holiday activities. This year, in addition to Lek, the campaign was joined by several individual donators, and the number is therefore 1400 children higher; among others the campaign was joined by Mobitel, the Bank of Slovenia, Bauhaus, Mercator, Koper Coastal Pharmacies, Marko Potrč and Radio 1, Slovenian footballers and more.

Lek, a Sandoz company, which has been a partner in the Wink at the Sun campaign from its inception, made sure that the Maribor children’s holidays would be as enjoyable and unforgettable as possible. They brought the annual Lek Games to the Slovenian Association of Friends of Youth’s Silly Olympics, as well as the popular Kolenc Family Theater, whose show complemented the all-day sporting activities. “This is the 12th year that we have worked with the SAFY to put on the Wink at the Sun campaign. Over these years Lek has allocated over 175,000 euros for free holidays. This year we are particularly pleased that with the help of contributions from individuals and organizations the campaign was once again a success, despite the unfavorable economic and social circumstances. During tough times we have to pull together even harder in order to help the people who need our assistance the most, and it is undoubtedly the children who deserve the most attention. I hope that today’s Lek Games and Silly Olympics are a great send-off and inspiration to all of the children for the new school year,” said Katarina Klemenc Dinjaški, Head of Corporate Communication at Lek.

A press conference was held on the occasion, at which the speakers reported on the past history of the Wink at the Sun campaign and presented the programs for the new school year, which have been prepared by the Slovenian Association of Friends of Youth and the Maribor Association of Friends of Youth. “For 12 years the ‘Wink at the Sun – making holidays possible for all children’ campaign has been encouraging good-hearted people to contribute according to their means to provide holidays for children who due to their families’ social circumstances would otherwise have to stay at home, left to their own devices and the streets. The campaign has been extremely well received by individual Slovenian citizens and representatives of companies, organizations and institutions, even in this year’s crisis conditions. While in past years we have relied primarily on legal entities, this year with the help of the newspapers Delo, Slovenske Novice and Večer we also reached 170,000 families throughout Slovenia, and their response was larger than we had expected. Once again this year, the honorary sponsor of the Wink at the Sun campaign was Slovenian First Lady Barbara Miklič Türk,” said SAFY President Franc Hočevar.

One of the strategic objectives of the Slovenian Friends of Youth Association is to constantly strive to provide equal opportunities for including all children—including those from poor families—in organized leisure-time activities, and to continuously encourage all good-hearted people to help eliminate the social exclusion of children. In doing so they implement the provisions of the Convention on the Rights of the Child, which charges its signatories to ensure that all children are provided with the right to appropriate enjoyment of leisure time, and to holidays intended for rest and relaxation as well as improving their health. Every year around twenty thousand children attend “nature schools” with the Slovenian Association of Friends of Youth. The holidays are held at various locations in SAFY’s 15 modern-equipped holiday homes by the sea and in the mountains.

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