“Nākotnes Atbalsta fonds” (NAF), founded by Rietumu Bank, provided financial support to a Christian summer camp for children and youth with special needs “Gaismas talanti 2021”.
The summer camp, organized by the association “Gaismas talanti” every summer for the 11th year in a row, this year was held from July 26 to 31 in Ērgļi Municipality. The camp was free of charge for children and teenagers with special needs, as well as children from low-income families.
The camp activities were divided into three groups: creative workshops (music, dance, theatre, handicrafts); active recreation (games, walks, swimming, excursions); and introduction to village life (animal care and harvesting).
“We wanted children with
special needs to have an opportunity to live in a camp during summer,” says
project manager Martins Kaspars, “to get a taste
of rural life, acquire useful skills, and get a new spiritual and emotional
experience. In other words, to spend the summer in an interesting, creative way,
changing the environment they are used to. It is also important for us that the
healthy children, who also come to our camp, would understand that there are
children with disabilities in modern society and their life is not that easy.
We would like all children to learn to communicate, cooperate, help each other,
and not to be afraid of children with special needs.”
Inga Shina, Chairperson of the Board of “Nākotnes Atbalsta fonds”, notes: “Our Charity Fund traditionally supports different types of summer camps for children and teenagers – education camps, sports camps, arts camps, etc. This year we decided to support the “Gaismas talanti” camp, because the goals and objectives set by its organizers are very worthy and still relevant today.”
Rietumu Bank Charity Fund (“Rietumu Bankas labdarības fonds”), founded on 13 April 2007, has recently been renamed. The new name of the fund is “Nākotnes Atbalsta fonds” (Future Supporting Fund).