The goal of collecting €1 million for renovating the Mother and Child Institute, set within the fundraising campaign “Revive Moldova”, was achieved after the telemarathon staged by Publika TV channel on October 19. The event was directed by the Romanian TV star Andreea Marin, who thanked all those who made donations, saying these persons deserve admiration, IPN reports.

Within the telemarathon, the people donated 412,000 lei, while the charity foundation Edelweiss made a contribution of 567,000 lei. Thus, with this money and the money raised since the start of the campaign, the total collection amounted to €1 million.

The foundation’s president Vlad Plahotniuc, who is the initiator of the campaign, said he was surprised by the solidarity shown by the people. “I was deeply touched by the success of this campaign and by the way the Moldovans become involved in it. They took an active part in the campaign and believed in it. They donated tens to tens of thousands of lei,” he stated.

According to a communiqué of the campaign “Revive Moldova”, a large number of people took part in the telemarathon during the day. The personalities working in the telemarathon’s call center answered the phone calls made to the special line for donations, which was always busy. The people phoned both from the country and abroad, namely from Romania, Italy, Portugal, Turkey, the UK, and the U.S. Many of them have personal stories related to the Mother and Child Institute. Many families, with children and grandparents, and groups of colleagues or friends came to donate money at the campaign’s collection boxes. The medical personnel of the Mother and Child Institute donated their salary for one day.

On October 19, famous people came to the studio of Publika TV or phoned during the telemarathon to show their support for the campaign. Romanian Ambassador in Chisinau Marius Lazurca came accompanied by his family to send a message of solidarity, while soprano Valentina Nafornita encouraged the Moldovans to take part in the campaign within a phone call.

“The merits are first of all of the Moldovans as they mobilized in an extraordinary way for a good cause. We have a concrete result. We will not stop here as we have yet a lot to do in this country,” stated Vlad Plahotniuc. According to him, the campaign “Revive Moldova” will continue.

So far, with the funds raised within the campaign, there was fully repaired ad modernized the admission section of the Mother and Child Institute’s maternity hospital.