Rotary Club Cluj-Napoca Cetățuie offers support for children with modest financial background.

A big dining table filled with various meals: roasted potatoes, just out of the oven warm pork, the colorful vegetables are waiting in a big bowl to be shared on each plate. A big chocolate cake is there as well. Everywhere one looks – delicious food: the perfect Christmas family dinner. A Christmas tree is to be seen in the corner of the room, and under it, tons of presents are waiting to be opened. 

Sadly, this is not the reality children like Tania are living in December. Cold winter, food barely enough for the whole family, as for the Christmas presents… there isn’t any money for those. 

As the harsh reality has shown us, many children don’t have the bare minimum to get through the cold season healthy. Proper winter clothes are missing, shoes are either one size too big or too small, or even not appropriate for snow. Christmas isn’t celebrated with plenty of food, but rather with the strict necessities to overcome the financial difficulties. Toys, books or school supplies are often out of the question. 

Rotary Cluj-Napoca Cetatuie is aware of the context in which many poor families are celebrating Christmas every year. Hence, they have come up with a project created to offer financial support for those in need, especially for the children. This is how “Share a smile” (Ro: “Daruieste un zambet”) was born. 

The project takes place every year a few days before Christmas and aims at purchasing essential pieces of clothing, food or even toys for children coming from families with modest backgrounds. During a shopping round at a local supermarket, rotarians and rotaractors come together with some of the children in need, offering them gifts previously written down on a Christmas Wish List.

Rotaract Club Cluj-Napoca Cetățuie is gladly offering the necessary help in order to expand the project and come in contact with these children. We are aware that the holiday season  may cause more pain for some families rather than bring joy. Therefore, we are trying to put in practice the Christmas spirit we speak so often about and practice acts of kindness for the people in our community. We believe in caring for one another and we focus on sharing a smile with the less fortunate.