Olympic swimming champion David Popovici decided to donate his prize-winning equipment from the Paris 2024 Olympic Games, in order to raise 115,000 euros, the amount needed for the construction of a family home that will receive children with special needs from the last placement center in the Sector 5, Bucharest.
The source mentions that 11 children with special needs would benefit from the humanitarian campaign in which Popovici was involved.
„David Popovici, double world champion and Olympic champion in swimming, donates to the Hope and Homes for Children Foundation the equipment worn on the podium at the Paris Olympics this year. The T-shirt, blouse and sweatpants, along with sports shoes, are the personal items on which David offers with the aim of collecting 115,000 euros from the total amount needed for the construction of a family home for 11 children with special needs from the last placement center in Bucharest, sector 5. The equipment will be exhibited during the campaign, for 10 days, in AFI Cotroceni commercial complex, on the ground floor, in the atrium at the main entrance. Anyone who wants to join David is invited to make a donation of at least 50 RON on the campaign page, between September 30 and October 9, 2024. The winner of the equipment will be chosen by drawing lots at the end of the campaign, and will receive the prize from David Popovici himself,” the press release reads.
The Romanian athlete explained the gesture of getting involved in the humanitarian campaign by the fact that there are „more important and quieter battles”.
„The emotion of being on the podium, at the 2024 Olympic Games, proudly wearing the tricolor, will forever remain in my heart. I felt you next to me and I thank you! And today, I wish from the bottom of my heart to have you close again, because, beyond the victories that are measured in medals, there are other battles – more important, but more silent -, which are rarely seen, but which have a huge impact. From my heart, for the home of 11 children, today I donate with joy the equipment I wore on the podium, so that they grow in a warm environment adapted to their needs. We need 11,500 good people to donate at least 50 RON for us, together, to raise a quarter from the money needed by Hope and Homes to build the house. In reality, however, I think we are many more. And for that, I thank you!” said David Popovici.
AGERPRES