HELBI

President of Elpida, Marianna Vardinoyanni, as well as the Friends of Children with Cancer and Health Minister Dimitris Avramopoulos, signed a contract on March 27 that brought the Cancer Hospital for Children a step closer to realization. By signing the contract, Elpida donates to the Greek state and Aghia Sofia Hospital the sum of –23,730,000, which it collected over two years of constant fundraising activities, events and concerts. At a press conference after the signing, Avramopoulos thanked and congratulated Vardinoyanni. “You are always close to children,” he said, “and you set a good example.” And he added that once the hospital was built, in 18 months to two years at the most, “the state will see that it runs smoothly, proving the latest equipment and expert staff.” Vardinoyanni thanked the minister “for his undivided cooperation and support in carrying out this vision which is now becoming reality.” She promised that Elpida and she herself as its president would “always be by the side of the children and their parents, and will send doctors abroad to learn the latest treatments so they can apply them here.” She added: “Over all these years I have seen the eyes of the children and the anxiety of their families because there are 30 children on the waiting list and time is not their ally.” The foundation stone will be laid at midday on May 24, justifying all the work put in by the president, board and members of Elpida, and of the media, whom Vardinoyanni thanked for “spreading the message of solidarity and love throughout Greece and beyond.”