Vatreno Srce Foundation help KBC Split and Korak u život campaign

(Photo credit: Drago Sopta/HNS)

Ahead of last night’s UEFA Nations League match between Croatia and France, the president of the Croatian Football Federation (HNS), Marijan Kustić, coach Zlatko Dalić, captain Luka Modrić and prof. Dr. Josip Paladino, handed over commemorative checks on behalf of the Vatreno Srce Foundation in the amount of HRK 400,000 to the Clinical Hospital Centre Split and the Korak u život campaign. 

The checks were received by the director of KBC Split, Dr. Julija Meštrović, and Mr. Zvonko Biljecki, president of the Rotary Club Zagreb Kaptol.

The funds were raised by auctioning the playing shirts of the Croatian national team with generous help of the HNS. 

The Korak u život campaign will use the donation for four five-year scholarships, and KBC Split will use it for the construction and upgrade of the Centre for the Care of Children with Neurodevelopmental Disorders.

Through the Vatreno Srce Foundation, the Croatian national football team has been helping needy children for 12 years. This year, the Foundation raised funds for the children’s ward of the KBC Split hospital and for the Korak u život campaign, which helps provide scholarships for the education of children without adequate parental care.

The foundation was founded in 2010 by players and the professional staff of the Croatian national football team to help children throughout Croatia.

The Board of Directors of the Vatreno Srce Foundation includes Captain Luka Modrić, coach Zlatko Dalić and doctors, Prim. Dr. Zoran Bahtijarević, prof. dr. sc. Boris Nemec and prof. Dr. Sc. Josip Paladino.

“I am extremely happy and proud that despite the pandemic that has stopped us in the organisation of the donor dinner for the past two years, we have successfully found a way to continue to raise funds for the treatment and education of our youngest citizens. For many years, the Foundation has been systematically working to help those who need it the most. Through donations, we have so far supported the work of numerous associations, and in recent years we have provided more than 12 five-year scholarships for Korak u život and funds for the purchase of surgical instruments for the Clinic for Children’s Diseases Zagreb and for the purchase of the necessary equipment for the Clinic for Pediatrics of the Children’s Hospital Kantrida in Rijeka. I am glad that we managed to maintain continuity, and I would like to announce that next year we will raise funds for the children’s ward of the Clinical Hospital Centre in Osijek and also for Korak u život scholarships. Thank you to the coach Dalić, captain Modrić and all the players and employees of HNS. Their generous help was necessary for the organisation of the auction and the continuation of humanitarian activities, and I hope that we will continue to apply the same model in the future cycle of the national team and its matches for official competitions ,said Josip Paladino, president of the Vatreno Srce Foundation.