Ice wines signed by Jožo Ráž, lead singer of Slovak band Elán, and paintings by artist Dana Raunerová were offered at the charity auction for the Chovánek Children’s Centre in Brno., Jožo Ráž and Elán personally attended the auction to make it more attractive and bring in some high bids. The auction was hosted by the electrical installation company GA Energo technik, which operates one of its branches in Brno. The cheque was presented to the director of the children’s centre, Eva Spáčilová Pilátová, by Zdeněk Židek, the company’s CEO.
The Chovánek Children’s Centre cares for children from birth to three years of age, including children with severe disabilities. It also operates a facility for children in need of immediate assistance aged from birth to 18. Other services include rehabilitation care, respite care, and comprehensive counselling for parents (biological and adoptive) and caregivers. The centre provides accommodation and assistance to mothers in difficult situations, and currently cares for 74 children. “Our founder is the Statutory City of Brno, yet sponsorship, donations, fundraising and other forms of support are very important to us and we are grateful for them. They enable us to carry out many projects beyond the scope of our budget. With the funds raised from the auction, we will make our children’s biggest dream—a covered garden pool—come true,” the centre director said, adding that she was very pleasantly surprised by the final amount.
The charity auction was the culmination of a gala evening held to announce the further development of GA Energo technik and its Slovak subsidiary Omexom Slovensko. “Supporting social activities aimed at childcare has been part of our corporate philosophy for many years. This is why we regularly financially support the Plzeň Children’s Centre, located in our home city. We have already provided almost CZK 4,000,000 over the eight years of our cooperation. We would like to establish the same kind of cooperation in all eleven regions where our branches are located,” Židek concluded.