The municipality is collecting toys for orphans before the winter holidays as part of the campaign “Joys for Children”. At the meeting of December 3, the public functionaries came each with a toy. The toys and gifts for children will be collected until December 25 and will be then shared out among children’s homes in Chisinau. The functionaries as well as the ordinary citizens are invited to make donations. Deputy Mayor Lucia Culev said that if more toys will be collected, these will be distributed to other disfavoured children in the municipality. A number of artists expressed interest in the City Hal’s project and pledged to bring toys and clothes from their own wardrobe so as to transmit their personal attitude to the children that do not have parents, Lucia Culev said. Svetlana Chifa, head of the municipal division for the protection of children’s rights, said that for several years the Chisinau City Hall has offered presents to the deprived children in the municipality before the winter holidays, helped by economic entities and sponsors. According to her, about 2,500 children in Chisinau will receive gifts this year. Among these are orphans, children under guardianship, institutionalized children, children sick with tuberculosis and other diseases and 146 disabled children. The district head’s offices will distribute gifts to about 5,000 children in the municipality through the agency of community centres.