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Manfred Franke receives cheque over 600.000 CZK for C4C

Organized under the auspices of Olympic Champion Katerina Neumannová, the second annual Charity Golf Tournament of two prestigious Prague Rotary Clubs yielded unprecedented results, in terms of charitable revenue, as 102 players slugged it out for victory on the demanding eighteen hole Karlstein Golf Course. The weather played along beautifully as the members of two of Prague‘s Rotary Clubs, Rotary Club Prague-Bohemia and Rotary Club Prague International, putted away in Karlstein for the benefit of socially disadvantaged and institutionalized children.

"I’ve never played an eighteen hole course before", smiles golf rookie Juergen Schmidt, a senior compliance officer with Siemens CR and member of the Rotary Club Bohemia. "I was exhausted, yet exhilarated that we were able to raise that much money for Chance 4 Children's (C4C) programs for needy children."

And as the day drew to a close, the Rotarians celebrated this exceptional event with a gala reception at the Intercontinental Hotel on the banks of the Vltava river. Skillfully moderated by TV Nova’s Jana Novakova-Adamcova, the evening was off to a good start with a touching musical performance by five children of the Sazava orphanage in northern Bohemia. These talented youngsters are participants in Chance 4 Children "Springboard to Life" program and receive weekly music lessons as part of the initiative. The program‘s aim is to pass on supplemental vocational skills to socially disadvantaged and institutionalized children, as a springboard to a successful adult life and trouble-free integration into society. Actively supported by the Rotary Club Bohemia and the International Rotary Club, the program is now going into its third year and teaches over 100 students in various orphanages skills such as cooking, baking, music, dancing, and foreign languages.

After a sumptuous dinner, six children from the Zatec orphanage, together with their teacher Jana Snoblova, presented the guests with the results of their recently acquired baking skills: a cart full of delicious cookies, cream puffs and other sweet delights -- enough for all of the 150 guests to get a taste.

“It was nice to see the children participating here this evening, presenting us with the ‘proof of the pudding’ that C4C’s Springboard to Life program is working effectively and well”, says Halgard Stolte of Stolte Communications and the Rotary Club Bohemia. “Seeing the children so happy and proud of their accomplishments is very rewarding for us.”

As the evening advanced, noted Czech Violin virtuoso Jaroslav Svěcený gave a stunning performance, playing on an array of classical old instruments, some dating back 200 years. Mr. Svěcený is looking back at a distinguished career as one of the country's top performers.

The evening ended with a smiling Hans Georg Gelke, senior management member of Skoda Auto and president of the Prague Rotary Club Bohemia, who presented a symbolic check of the very sizable sum of 600.000 CZK (US $ 33.000) to C4C’s chairman and founder Manfred Franke. Sharing the stage with them were Olympic champion Kateřina Neumannová and Petr Pajas, Rotary governor for the Czech Republic and Slovakia. Visibly moved, an enthusiastic Franke thanked the distinguished Rotarian guests for their participation, generosity, and commitment to a worthy cause. “I don’t know too much about Golf, but there seems to be amazing power in those little white balls - if they can generate amounts like this”, he joked as he addressed the crowd.

And so a wonderful, action packed day came to its conclusion. It goes to prove that the ideals and philosophy of Rotary have stood the test of time and continue to contribute decisively to making this world a better place.

Springboard to Life participants: Youngsters from Sazava Orphanage

Sweet deserts prepared by children from Zatec Orphanage

J. Schmid and O. Gelke, presenting gifts to attending orphans

Katerina Neumanova & Jana Snoblova with baking class from Zatec Orphanage