The 4th Year of the Nicolas Charity Bazaar was Successful
Hundreds of people started to come in Prague Crossroads shortly after 12 p.m. On the ground floor of the church, which became a Christmas marketplace until the evening, visitors could choose from among beautiful products, mostly made in protected workshops. They could stop at the stand of the event organiser, the VIZE 97 Foundation, the Endowment Fund of Czech Radio – Světluška (Firefly), the Mamma Help stand, Helppes (Help-dog), the Charter 77 Foundation – Barriers Account and at the refreshments stand of affiliated civic association Slunce (Sun), at the Home of St. Charles Borromeo, People in Need, SONS (United Organisation of the Sight Impaired) or the INKA Foundation Fund. Visitors could buy Advent Wreaths, ceramic decorations, dolls from Peru, pillows from Africa, patchwork products, and many more enthralling items.
The VIZE 97 Foundation sold products of its partner organisations such as protected workshops Vyšehrad – Life without Barriers Nová Paka, the LOGO civic association, or the Bohemia Patchwork Club association. All organisations used the proceeds for their projects. VIZE 97 uses the proceeds for the fundraising account of social project Fund of Understanding.
Mrs Dagmar Havlová, Chairwoman of the Board of Trustees of the VIZE 97 Foundation, helped to sell the products at the VIZE 97 stand. However, other well-known figures also assisted; these included Aneta Langerová, Marek Vašut, Ivana Chýlková, Aleš Cibulka, Kateřina Hrachovcová – Herčíková, Jitka Schneiderová, and others. ‘Ordinary’ visitors to the Bazaar also included numerous famous figures such as Eliška Balzerová, Jiří Lábus, Jan Potměšil or Štěpánka Duchková.
At 3 p.m., the Bazaar programme was enlivened by a concert of multi-member music band The Tap Tap from the Jedlička Institute (taking care of young people with disabilities), led by Šimon Ornest.
At 4 p.m., Mrs Dagmar Havlová, Chairwoman of the Board of Trustees of the VIZE 97 Foundation, came to say hello to the Bazaar visitors and to start the distribution of Nicolas presents. She thanked everyone for coming and seeing the event, and briefly presented not only the history of the Bazaar but also the history of Prague Crossroads, which VIZE 97 regularly provides for the purposes of hosting the Bazaar.
St. Nicolas, accompanied by a devil and an angel, gave small sweet gifts to children to reward them for their courage to sing. The event was concluded by jointly sung Christmas carols. Well-known figures together with children on the stage and people in the church sang traditional Czech Christmas carols and shared true Advent atmosphere; the atmosphere of relationship, friendship, love and good deeds; purely non-commercial and genuine!
We thank all visitors to this year’s Nicolas Charity Bazaar for coming and supporting the event. We will look forward to seeing you again next year!
