HEART 2 ART: TFWA 25TH ANNIVERSARY LEGACY
To mark its 25th anniversary, TFWA has pledged €50,000 to two charitable organisations, The Lotus Flower Trust and The Smile Train*, as part of a special initiative called ‘Heart 2 Art: the TFWA 25th Anniversary Legacy’.
TFWA asked some of the children cared for by each organisation to paint their vision of a better world under the theme ‘Dreams really do come true’.
Four individual works of art created by children aged between 8 and 18 years from India and Latin America have been selected and will go on sale during TFWA World Exhibition in Cannes in an effort to raise an additional €50,000 from the industry.
The four paintings have been reproduced as a limited edition series with 500 copies of each. They will each be presented in a specially designed artist’s folder and offered for sale for a minimum of €25 per painting, although delegates are welcome to pay any amount over the price tag as all funds will go straight to the charities.
TFWA hopes that the sale of the paintings will enable delegates to match – or even exceed – the €50,000 figure it is donating through TFWA CARE in a bid to raise a total of €100,000 during the show week.
Erik Juul-Mortensen, TFWA President: “Both charities are very worthwhile causes and it gives us tremendous pleasure to be able to help in this way. We are fortunate to have an audience of around ten thousand people gathered in one place during TFWA World Exhibition among whom we can muster support. The industry has shown its generosity on countless occasions in the past and we are confident that many will support this particular initiative in Cannes.”
Delegates are invited to purchase their “Heart 2 Art” painting in the Registration Pavilion next to the Palais. TFWA confirms that all production and administrative charges will be covered so that 100% of the funds raised through this operation will be donated directly to The Smile Train and The Lotus Flower Trust.
Alternatively, delegates can reserve their painting(s) online prior to the exhibition on the TFWA website by clicking here: http://www.tfwa.com/duty_free/Heart-2-Art.1037.0.html. Reserved paintings should be collected and paid for before 6pm on Tuesday 20th October.
The TFWA 25th Anniversary Legacy will reinforce the theme of the plenary conference on Monday 19th October, “The Challenge of Change: Investing in People and Mankind” which features philanthropists Bob Geldof, Jacques Attali and industry leader William P. Lauder, Chairman of The Estée Lauder Companies.
Erik Juul-Mortensen: "It is vital that we do not lose sight of the bigger picture, particularly when times are hard. We are all suffering commercially from the current economic situation but for millions of children around the world ‘suffering’ has an entirely different meaning."
For further information please contact
TFWA Press Office – Kate Teagle Tel: +44 1784 434 666
www.tfwa.com Email: press@tfwa.com
*Notes:
The Lotus Flower Trust
"Let us work together to bring education and dignity to the lives of some of the poorest people in India, particularly the children, and offer a life-changing experience to all who travel with us." John Hunt, Founder 11 November 2008
The vision of The Lotus Flower Trust is to "change lives" - the lives of children in remote and impoverished communities in India, by providing educational facilities to help break the cycle of poverty; and, perhaps, other people’s lives, by involving them as a volunteer and as a financial supporter.
The phenomenal commercial growth of India over the last decade is well documented. But with a population in excess of one billion this developing country is unable to keep pace and address the needs of all its people. Poverty can be found in every corner of the nation.
John Hunt: “A young Chakma girl, in the jungles of the Namdapha Rain Forest, Arunachal Pradesh, once said to me that the only solution to breaking out of poverty was “Education, Education, Education”. Lotus Flower Trust wants, with your help, to give children that opportunity. Our plan over the next five years is to build schools, homes and orphanages to provide a better life for some very poor, but deserving young people.”
www.lotusflowertrust.org
The Smile Train
Unlike many charities that do many different things, The Smile Train is focused on solving a single problem: cleft lip and palate.
Clefts are a major problem in developing countries where there are millions of children who are suffering with unrepaired clefts. Most cannot eat or speak properly. Aren’t allowed to attend school or hold a job. And face very difficult lives filled with shame and isolation, pain and heartache.
The good news is that every single child with a cleft can be helped with surgery that costs as little as $250 and takes as little as 45 minutes.
This is our mission:
to provide free cleft surgery for millions of poor children in developing countries;
to provide free cleft-related training for doctors and medical professionals.
Until there are no more children who need help and we have completely eradicated the problem of clefts.
www.smiletrain.org
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