The auction of dates is taking place in Uzhgorod (+PHOTOS)

The campaign "Buy a date – give a child a holiday" is taking place in Uzhgorod for the 9th time. The auction of dates is an initiative of young active people, who decided not only to help children feel joy, but also to get wider circles involved in a good cause. And it has been working well for almost ten years now. The campaign raises funds for orphanages and shows that doing good is easy. The idea is very simple: a date is put up for sale at an auction, and a benefactor can buy it. Well-known people, as well as youth take part as lots.

Students, showmen, journalists, volunteers, photographers, athletes, doctors and politicians – anyone can became a participant, and besides a meeting with traditional Transcarpathian coffee, human lots offer bonuses: treats, souvenirs, excursions, photo sessions and even parties… Take note, lonely hearts: there are many beautiful girls and interesting guys at the auction!

Denys Man says: "The campaign was born as a youth volunteer initiative, which was intended to ​​unite mostly lazy students around the philanthropic idea, encouraging them to join charitable organizations. However, the first campaign did not raise a lot of money.

 But we continued.   

I think that in the first year we only bought sweets for children. But the next year. we were able to raise enough money to update the musical equipment in Ilnytsia boarding school."

The campaign "Buy a date – give a child a holiday" gained momentum and attracted more and more young people.

"Over the last 2 years, we raised more than 100 thousand hryvnias, and, of course, it is difficult to manage such work without a structure – in 2017, the "Give a child a holiday" fund, which is currently in charge of the campaign, was founded.

The most important thing, that we have done, I think, is saving Ilnytsia orphanage from closure. The campaign has a great social effect, and it is good."

Of course, the campaign has its own records. While, at this moment, there are more than 200 lots in the "Buy a date – give a child a holiday – 2017" and the process continues, in total for all years there have been thousands of participants.

"The most expensive lot in our history is 10,000 UAH. So far, this record has not been broken. The number of participants (lots, buyers, volunteers) passed the 2000 mark last year", – Denys says. In response to the events in the country, in 2014, the project was oriented to the needs of the army: the Facebook campaign was entitled "Buy a date – help the soldiers." All the funds raised were used for the purchase of the most necessary things for our soldiers in the East, – Denys says.

Of course, there are problems in every big project. "There have been occasions, when bids were not paid; in the early years, the phrase "I thought it was a joke" was very popular, but now such occurances are less common, because a lot of people know about the campaign," – Denys Man says.

The organizers of the interesting and helpful project invite to join them in Facebook and Instagram, where this year the project was launched for the first time. You can participate as a lot or as a buyer, and in this way help children become happier.