Kateryna Yushchenko’s Ukraine-3000 International Charitable Foundation is continuing to raise money to build a new children’s hospital in Feofania. On Sept. 4 the benefactors of the Children’s Hospital of the Future Foundation Project were Ukrainian and foreign sports stars and celebrities, who played a soccer game billed as “Give Your Heart to Children” at the Valerii Lobanovsky Dynamo Stadium. The game was the brainchild of Andrii Shevchenko, the captain of Ukraine’s national soccer team and England’s Chelsea Football Club.
“I’ve been dreaming of holding a charity match in Ukraine, to combine charity with a festive sports atmosphere,” Shevchenko said. “These kinds of events are very popular in Europe, and the funds that have been raised through the sale of tickets and other sources have helped hundreds of thousands children who have no one to take care of them. My like-minded friends, representing the world of soccer, sports, and show business, and I are making our own contribution to building the Children’s Hospital of the Future.”
Shevchenko’s team played against a combined team of Italian celebrities. Besides Shevchenko, two Golden Ball winners, Oleh Blokhin and Ihor Bielanov, represented Ukraine. They were joined by sportsmen Serhii Bubka, Volodymyr Klychko, Andrii Medviediev, businessman Ihor Surkis, singers Viacheslav Vakarchuk and Oleksandr Ponomariov, and TV host Savik Shuster.
Singer Gianni Morandi was the leader of the Italian celebrity team. To equalize the forces, the team was strengthened by pro soccer players Zvonimir Boban, Marco Simone, Oleh Husiev, and Vladyslav Vashchuk.
“We have gathered here on this wonderful occasion to help children, and I am happy to be here,” Boban said after the game. “Shevchenko is a number-one player, and I am proud to say that he is my friend. I think it was an interesting game.”
The final score was 5:4, and the winner was Shevchenko’s team. But the most important element of this event was not goals but the development of Ukraine’s charitable tradition. The precise figure of the money raised has not been announced. But according to www.Korrespondent.net, before the game, Morandi handed over a 50,000-euro check to Shevchenko. After the game the Italian singer put on a charity concert.
