Participate in our annual charity event in support of disadvantaged children and young adults.

On September 29th 2021, for the 16th year in a row, we have the pleasure of showing our work and getting support from friends and benefactors of the organization, at our largest charity event, under the motto Sky is the Limit.

On one hand, the theme of the event is inspired by the unceasing challenges that we have all been facing in the past year and a half. But these challenges are even bigger for the people and organizations, which look after the most vulnerable groups of society. On the other hand – the need to share with all of you the satisfaction and joy that we feel, when we see how the children and young adults that we look after achieve success and push the borders of their abilities, thanks to the support they receive and the faith we have in them.

With care for everyone, who have continued to support us throughout the years and have believed in our professionalism, this year we decided to organize our event in a hybrid format again – with only a few guests in-person, so that we can guarantee social distancing and following of all anti-epidemic measures, as well as giving everyone, who wants to support us a chance to do so, from anywhere in the world, by watching us online. In order to achieve this, again we have a special donation platform, which provides different ways for people to support our work and the donation process is fast and easy. The donors can select one of several ways to support us. This can happen from any location in the world weeks before the event, because the platform is open for donations and physical presence is not necessary.
The safety of our donors is guaranteed.

Apart from the Paddle Raiser donation method, which is innovative for Bulgaria, where bidders can choose a particular need to support, we will offer one more donation method. A unique collection of photographs, provided to us for free by professional photographers, will be sold in a quiet auction. The photographs will be exhibited and described in the donation platform and everyone who registers will be able to bid on a photo. The winners in the auction will receive the photo, printed and ready to exhibit, after the event.

Thanks to our partners, we have the opportunity to provide various prizes in our raffle, which is already open. Everyone can buy an unlimited number of tickets for each of the prizes, which increases the chance to win the thing that you want most. The raffle winners will be drawn with a specific software, during the evening.

Everyone, who wants to be a part of the event can buy a ticket from here or watch us online. The donation platform is open for registration and support. Thanks to our donors, partners and friends, we have been providing a caring environment and support to over 100 disadvantaged children and young adults. And we believe that every child has unlimited capabilities to utilize their potential when they receive support, trust and love.

All expenses for the event will be covered by our partners and sponsors, who stand behind our cause. We thank our sponsors: CMS Sofia, Hilton Sofia, America for Bulgaria Foundation, Communitas Foundation, AG Capital, Dundee Precious Metals, as well as our partners: DABOV Specialty Coffee , Sircrow, Yoga Vibe, Gelato&Latte, Gela hotel, Wooden Spoon, Amuse Bouche, Modica Artisan Chocolates, Photosynthesis.

The Cedar Foundation superheroes are faced with yet another serious challenge – to raise 7000 BGN for summer camps for 30 disadvantaged children. Join us now and donate, and as a gesture of gratitude, on June 1st, the International children’s day, the Cedar team members will climb one of Bulgaria’s highest mountain peaks – Botev vrah, named after a national hero, revolutionary and poet. During the ascent we will all be dressed in superhero outfits.

The symbolic climb will also celebrate the immense efforts of our social workers and other professionals who are responsible for the children’s health and wellbeing in these turbulent times. To dedicate your time and energy to children in need is a super power of which even Superman would be jealous.

For more than 15 years we provide a safe and secure environment and quality care to children and youths with disabilities and/or deprived of parental care. We add important therapies such as physio, sensory and occupational therapy so that we make sure that every child grows healthy and fulfilled.

Summer camps are among a wide specter of educational and therapeutic activities through which our children manage their physical challenges and family trauma. Due to the pandemic during the last year we weren’t able to carry out some of the planned activities. This year we would like to make up for missed opportunities and spend as much time outdoors.

We need your super support today. Donate here or if you have any super power (like we do) tell us more about it on the Facebook page of our campaign or make the campaign popular through your friends and peers. You can also take part in the climbing on 1th June. Follow us on Facebook and check the other super ideas we have.

In line with modern trends, we renew our logo by giving a modern touch to the Cedar tree – a symbol of the organization since its establishment 16 years ago.

We are a leading organization in Bulgaria in the management of family-type centers for disadvantaged children and youth. The foundation was established back in 2005 by Irish pastor Mark O’Sullivan, who then lived with his family in Kazanlak. He and his wife, Penny, supported disadvantaged children by raising donations, organizing training, and providing specialized therapies for children with severe disabilities.

They named the foundation after their eldest son, Cedar. That is why the logo of the organization combines cedar elements, and the symbolism of the name has outlined the path of the foundation over the years – strong and stable as the cedar tree, providing healthy roots to the children and young adults it cares for.

Since 2013, Mark and Penny no longer live in Bulgaria, but the mission of the organization continues to this day with its entirely Bulgarian team. Over the years, the team has extended its activities, developed the foundation, and achieved financial sustainability and strong positions in the social sphere and the non-governmental sector.

“The foundation needs a strong and modern visual identity that matches the way it works and its vision for development. For us, the tree is a symbol of stability that every child needs and the sense of movement in the branches corresponds to our flexibility and ability to follow trends. The teams of the foundation are steady, adaptable, rely on, and use up-to-date tools and approaches. We believe that the new logo reflects our commitment to provide protection and support for the children and young people in our care, to share social responsibility, and to establish and strengthen our community,” shares Iva Hadzhiyska, Fundraising and Communications Director.

The Cedar Foundation currently manages 9 centers and has contributed to the positive change in the lives of over 3,000 children with disabilities. The foundation is an active participant in formulating, implementing, and evaluating policies in the field of deinstitutionalization. Actively works for a change in government policies towards disadvantaged people.

As a member of Eurochild, the international network of organizations that provide support to children and protect their rights, The Cedar Foundation co-authored the report on the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic on the lives of children in Europe, including in Bulgaria. The ‘Growing up in lockdown: Europe’s children in the age of COVID-19’ report summarizes data from 25 European countries, collected between August and September of 2020. The aim of the report is to examine the ways in which the pandemic influences all domains of children’s lives and to provide policy recommendations to governments in Europe on addressing those issues that have a direct impact on children and their families.

The document is based on the evaluations of 42 of Eurochild’s members, including The Cedar Foundation, representing 25 countries. Cedar contributed to the report’s recommendations on the functioning and management of family type homes and on deinstitutionalization policies.

The report emphasizes the fact that most children in family type homes in Bulgaria live with disabilities and their health is vulnerable and frail. Social distancing is impossible in the family type home format because many of the children require intensive care, which cannot be provided without close contact with the personnel. In turn, the staff has to manage the compounded stress and to follow all safety and hygiene measures (e.g., disinfection, tracing, reporting). The lack of access to the accompanying social services and educational institutions during isolation has further contributed to the additional pressure and to the need for staff to carry out new activities and therapies, so that they can meet the children’s needs and take care after the latter’s physical and mental health.

Additional resource has been invested by service providers, including nongovernmental organizations, in the provision of personal protective equipment for staff and for disinfectant agents. Moreover, there was a prolonged lack of clarity as to the steps that would need to be taken in the case of an infection among one of the children or a member of staff, as self-isolation in a family home environment is impossible.

With respect to the policies for children’s care and their rights, there has been a delay in planning for the process of deinstitutionalization. There is a lack of effectiveness in the work of the Permanent Expert Group on Deinstitutionalization, which was created in 2010 with the mandate to monitor the action plan on deinstitutionalization in Bulgaria and to discuss and provide policy recommendations to the national government on its various aspects.

The recommendations in the report that pertain to Bulgaria are also related to the necessity for improving the social system’s capacity for responding in the event of a family crisis and preventing the need for alternative care, support for vulnerable children, a need for national policy for youths who leave the family type homes, and migrant children.

You can read more about the report’s conclusions and recommendations here.

This fall, for the 15th year in a row, we were to organise our biggest fundraising event – the Cedar Foundation Annual Charity Ball. But 2020 surprised us all with many new challenges. This year, even more than previous years, the children and young people we support need a calm and secure environment to go through the difficult times.

That is why in the last couple of months we, at the Cedar Foundation, have been actively working on a new format of our Charity Ball, in order to adapt to the new reality, but also to preserve the opportunity to unite the people and businesses that support our work. Now we need this more than ever.

The event “Cedar Charity Cocktail: There is no place like home” will take place on September 30th, 2020 at Hilton Sofia. In line with the social distance requirements, the event will gather a limited number of guests and will be streamed online so as to reach as many people as possible. For a first year, we will be using a custom-made online platform through which the guests in the hall and the virtual guests will all have the opportunity to donate by participating in a raffle or making direct donations to the cause.

Besides all the other novelties, we will present a new fundraising mechanism for Bulgaria, the so-called Paddle Raiser. This is a very simple technique where donors literally “raise their paddle” when they choose how much to donate and for what. Donors have the opportunity to donate the cost for physiotherapy for a certain number of children, for a summer camp, a custom-made wheelchair, educational materials, or something else. In this new form of bidding, we have 8 levels of donations that indicate a specific amount and need. Anyone who wants to donate for the children at risk, can do so even now.

Another way to support the cause is by purchasing raffle tickets. This can happen at any time, starting now until the event, through the platform here. You can browse the prizes and choose the one(s) you’d like to participate for. The more tickets you buy, starting now, the better chance to win the prize you want. Tickets for each prize are unlimited and the prizes will be drawn by the software during the event.

If you’d like to attend the event, you can buy a ticket here. Alternatively, you can register for the online event which will allow you to watch and participate through the online platform. Everyone who takes part in the event will help us secure a safe and caring home for children and young people at risk.

The event is organized thanks to partners and sponsors who support the cause even in this difficult time for any business or individual. These are the gold sponsors CMS Sofia, Hilton Sofia and America for Bulgaria Foundation, the silver sponsor Communitas Foundation, as well as the partners Dundee Precious Metals, DABOV Specialty Coffee, Whirlpool, Sircrow and others.

In the weeks following the end of the lockdown things are slowly starting to go back to normal. Children are going back to daycare, restaurants are busy with excited customers, employees are returning to their offices.

While for most of us what remains of the lockdown are the masked people in the supermarket and the extensive use of hand sanitizer, the disadvantaged groups in our society are faced with a different reality.

Children and youth with disabilities deprived of parental care are the among the most vulnerable groups due to their complex diagnoses. The social workers are also in greater risk since most of them are close to or in retirement age.Lockdown has not ended for the ones who live and work in our Small Group Homes as the prеventive measures are still being strictly followed. Thorough daily sanitizing of the premises, social distancing and online therapies whenever possible are continued throughout social services both in Bulgaria, as well as in other European countries as we have come to recognise those services as most susceptible to the virus spread.

This is why, even though we are exhausted from the endless scrubbing with sanitising products, the constant explaining why we should wear masks and cannot go out and play with the other kids and the tiresome communication with pixelated colleagues, we should continue our efforts to stay healthy and avoid any risk of being close to the disease.
Our employees are still being transported to and from work, the expenses for hygienic materials are substantial, the social interactions of the children are limited to a minimum.

We are proud of what we have achieved in the past months. We have managed to keep our children safe and healthy and to train our social workers how to provide online care.
But there are more challenges ahead of us. Because we are not only responsible for providing primary care to those in need. We are also responsible for the emotional health and well being of both children and personnel and for updating and adapting our work systematically so that it answers the requirements of the everchanging reality we live in.
We are living and working in a different modality today. One which requires time and effort. One which we wouldn’t survive without dedication and support.

Our fundraising campaign for Support children at risk during the state of emergency is active here.

Every year we get together with our donors, partners, and friends to present our annual report and to extend our thankfulness to all of them.

The year of 2020 has been incredibly challenging, and we had to adapt quickly to the new realities. We had to postpone our Donor Appreciation Day, despite our desire to share our achievements with the people who support us. We replaced the live event with an electronically send digital report and letter written by our children and our team.

“Everybody experiences difficult moments in life and needs support to go forward. However, there are people who face those difficult moments too early in life, people for whom these difficult moments continue for too long and they have nobody to lean on. The Cedar Foundation exists for these people…. Thank you for being continually with us in 2019. We wish we will be together in 2020 again. Because together we could change lives.” – this is the message of Alexandrina Dimitrova, CEO of The Cedar Foundation sent to companies and individual donors who continue to support us even in a difficult year as 2020.

The Cedar Foundation reports the following achievements in 2019: The largest Non-Government Organization (NGO) in Bulgaria, provider of the social service ““Family-type centers for accommodation of children in need” with a team of 93 employees directly involved in taking care for the children and youngsters; Securing 11000 hours of specialized therapy for the needed ones; Successfully ending a project funded by the European Union, and many other successful initiatives.

For more on the Cedar Foundation’s achievements in 2019, follow the link.