500.000 crown donation for Tereza Maxova Foundation

For most people Christmas is a time of family reunion, getting together with our near and dear ones. However, we should not forget those who have no family to unite with, and among those, perhaps the most vulnerable and helpless are abandoned children. A foundation, established five years ago by the famous Czech supermodel Tereza Maxova, seeks to provide help and support for abandoned children living in children's homes in the Czech Republic. The Foundation has achieved an enormous amount in raising interest in the plight of abandoned children, and promoting and supporting their adoption. On Friday, the foundation received a 500.000 crown donation by the Finnish mobile phone company Nokia, one of the foundation's main supporters in recent years. With the cameras of the paparazzi clicking, the slim supermodel thanked the donors. By Pavla Horakova.

It is the elegance and photogenic charm of Tereza Maxova, that has drawn such high-profile sponsors as Nokia to the foundation. But for all the glitz, the money goes to very good use.

"One of the projects is our internet educational project "Chance for Children". Some of the money will be spent on computers for children's homes, as we think computer skills are vital for future chance of employment; some will also go to supporting foster care, and also therapeutic holidays for our children."

Away from the attention of the cameras I spoke with Mrs Maxova after the event, and she told me about her foundation and in what way it is different from other similar institutions.

"When we started up the foundation it started very spontaneously and we didn't really know our strategy in the beginning we just wanted to help but later on when we studied the problems of abandoned children we found out the best is to help directly, help a concrete child and I think that's very different that the money doesn't collect, doesn't stay in the foundation, the money goes directly to kids."

Tereza Maxova has a baby son now, so I asked her how her being a mother influenced her attitude in working with abandoned children.

"It's a big difference because suddenly when you come to be a mum and you know how much love and attention you give to your own child, then you realize actually what all those kids are missing but definitely, I think, from then, from that time on I think, you want to help more and you feel for it more I would think."