Clown Doctors campaign in Latvia concludes with over EUR 60 000 in donations

After a break, Dr.Klauns movement organized a charity campaign with the slogan «Palīdzi veseļoties, nevis ārstēties!» [Help heal, not treat!]. This campaign continued between 30 July and 25 September. The goal was collecting donations to finance clown doctors’ work and help them be where small patients, their parents and doctors are – hospitals all around Latvia.
Thanks to donations from residents and partners of the movement it was possible to gather EUR 61 151. Thanks to donations, clown doctors will be able to continue their everyday duties in six Latvian hospitals. Additionally, it is now possible to start a school for clown doctors and prepare new doctors for work in regions.
Throughout this campaign residents were able to provide support to clown doctors in all kinds of ways: buy purchasing TIO ice cream, donating money at Rimi stores and purchasing special red clown noses, as well as by transferring money directly to Dr. Klauns charity account.
The biggest amount of donations was received by the project’s long-standing supporter – Latvian leading milk processing company Food Union, which donated EUR 24 526 for the 831 119 TIO ice cream cups consumed by residents during the campaign.
In cooperation with Rimi the movement was able to raise EUR 36 625 in donations. Sales of red clown noses brought EUR 19 631.
This year clown doctors had to look for more creative ways to convince residents to support children hospitalized all over Latvia. The opening of the campaign commenced with special event in Riga. Additionally, one clown doctor spent 20 days on a special cycling marathon, covering 2 000 km and visiting cities that have hospitals with clown doctors serving in them.
«We have to important challenges ahead of us – creativity and regularity. Creativity because we need new solutions under ever-changing conditions, and regularity because children, parents and healthcare workers all need emotional support. Clown doctors can provide support only if they come to hospitals regularly. We can see our long-standing partners are prepared to help up look for creative solutions. We can also see many supportive people prepared to help clown doctors do their jobs. Knowing we are needed is inspiring,» says Dr. Klauns head Marianna Milovska.