Traditional Christmas Charity Bazaar raises over 38,5 mln tenge for charity
Held at the Radisson Hotel Astana, the in-person traditional charity event returned last weekend after a hiatus of two years due to the coronavirus restrictions and was absolutely packed. This year it welcomed over 40 countries with their national stalls celebrating cultural diversity, international schools and charity institutions coming together to make difference and touch so many lives.
Also, extending their helping hand were some 90 volunteers from Nazarbayev University and Kazguu University.
The Media Chairperson of the XIII ASA Christmas Charity Bazaar Meral Tosun Sessa emphasized ASA members are honored to have charity institutions on board this year. She also added that it is wonderful to have volunteers at the event and extended her gratitude for working together towards charitable cause, fostering cooperation and demonstrating cultural diversity.
«All proceeds will go to charity purposes. We have some 25 organizations to split the funds raised at the charity bazaar,» said Gulmira Manabekova of the Asian Development Bank (ADB), adding that the money will be donated to people with special needs, orphans, retirement homes.
Chairperson of ‘Sheber Shanyraq’ Association Anar Beksultan said she and other members of the association came from Taraz to join this year’s charity event. In her words, the association is only one-year-old, but it already unites under its roof mothers with many children, women with disabilities and parents of children with special needs. At the charity event the association offered guests to buy a wide selection of their handcrafts.
It was the first time public association ‘Territoriya uspekha’ (Territory of success) based in Almaty joined the Christmas Charity Bazaar to bring handmade dolls made by children with special needs and their families to the event. Head of the public association Rymgul Utepova said they hope the funds raised at the charity event will help organize the Christmas Tree event for those children in Almaty in three weeks.
This year ASA members had outdone themselves as they raffled over grand 250 prizes, including a car for just 1,000 tenge ($2.1) a ticket. The charity event also included such raffle prizes as flights tickets to 9 different destinations, large domestic appliances, jewellery, iconic pieces of world-famous brands, hotel accommodation, gift vouchers for the best restaurants in Astana, vouchers for yoga and dance lessons, traditional gift baskets from Embassies, etc.
The ASA President Lenise Correa Barbosa revealed the association raffled a total of 3,500 prizes. According to her, the ASA members will contact the winners of the riffle tickets. Barbosa, who happens to be a spouse of the Brazilian Ambassador to Kazakhstan, also emphasized that the goal of the Christmas Charity Bazaar is to support vulnerable groups and charitable organizations in Kazakhstan.
The 2022 Christmas Charity Bazaar was a resounding triumph for the cause as it raised a grand total of 38,5 million tenge or $82,000.
Every tenge from the sale of tickets will be donated to charity purposes in Kazakhstan - 35 Kazakh charity groups and organizations the ASA keeps in touch with - such as crisis centers, charity funds and animal shelters.
