Diema’s Dreams Come True
On June 2009 Diema’s Dream charity foundation held its annual Benefit Auction of Art “Dreams 2009” in GUM. The event was sponsored by Coca Cola, Stroytransgaz, Linklaters, Chevron, PricewaterhouseCoopers, KPMG, TNK-BP and many others. The auction was also supported by Christie’s and was conducted by its chairman Hugh Edmeades.
Diema’s Dream was established in 1998 to provide financial, medical, and educational support for both physically and mentally disabled children in Russia. The larger goal is to support changes in society and legislation in order to create social and medical support programs which would allow parents to raise their children at home rather than living in institutions. The founder of the charity Mary Dudley introduced “Take a Step” – a new program launched by Diema’s Dream in 2009. The goal of the program is to offer assistance to low-income families with disabled children in need of surgery or medical intervention and as a result provide them with a chance to walk. All the art auctioned was donated absolutely free by Russian as well as several foreign artists. After the dinner and the auction, the guests danced the night away to The Smokebreakers and Tony Watkins, who also introduced his new book and the album, Love’s Roads, available in the UK, Ireland and the U.S. All the profits of the book sale will go to support Russian charities.
With the help of Uley Catering that provided brilliantly organized catering and delicious food, Diageo, Parlament Group, Coca Cola Hellenic Bottling and The Ararat Park Hyatt Hotel that generously donated their products and services, as well as the many individual guests and guests of sponsors, Diema’s Dream managed to raise over $335,000 to finance the programs supporting disabled children and orphans of Russia.
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