L-Istrina raises over Lm1.29m

People dug deep into their pockets again yesterday to help those less fortunate bring up the amount of donations so far to Lm1,292,849 in the annual fundraising marathon L-Istrina.

This figure includes the Lm590,000 netted from the auction sale of 59 BMWs used during the Commonwealth summit last month.

This amount will be boosted further on Saturday when an auction sale will be held in aid of L-Istrina.

It is a foregone conclusion that with the amount of money that the auction will make, last year's sum of Lm1,300,000 will be exceeded.

Last year's programme raised over Lm800,000. An auction of art pieces held a few days later raked in a further Lm500,000 for the victims of the tsunami.

Politicians and personalities joined forces with Peppi Azzopardi and Valerie Vella, the tireless presenters of l-Istrina, who urged people to phone in and make their donations, telling them that every little counts when helping those in need.

Many were those who responded to the plea, either by phoning in, sending a text message or going along to the car park next to Television House.

Among the latter was Warsame Ali Garare, a refugee from Somalia, who presented a cheque of Lm400 collected by refugees living at the open centre.

"We had a party and collected money as a way to thank the Maltese people," he said.

Heart-wrenching clips of people in need of help - ranging from accident victims to those suffering from a disease - were aired throughout the programme. Parents of sick children related how they ended up needing help when their young ones fell ill and needed treatment abroad. The mother of a young girl who succumbed to her disease just weeks ago and two young men with different degrees of paralysis urged people to donate.

But not all were sad stories. A toddler who was featured on the fund-raising marathon two years ago because she was suffering from leukaemia has made a full recovery and smiled angelically to the cameras.

Nine cars and Lm250,000 worth of gifts helped to cajole people into giving. Television sets, PlayStations, computers, iPods, PDAs, cruises and holidays were among the many gifts won by donors.

Lou Bondi, one of the organisers, admitted that the gifts played an important part in raising money, adding that there were people who called in to win something.

"Something that costs Lm100 will raise more than its price," he said. On the other hand, some winners have been known to forfeit their gifts, he added.

Half the proceeds raised this year will go the Malta Community Chest Fund with the other half being distributed among more than 30 philanthropic and charitable organisations. The beneficiaries are chosen by an independent committee chaired by Magistrate Jacqueline Padovani Grima, which also follows up what is done with the money. Organised chaos reigned behind the scenes, where more than 200 volunteers were sweating it out to make sure that the programme went without a hitch. Mr Bondi explained that there were a number of departments, all taking care of particular aspects of the marathon, ranging from catering to accounts.

The Bank of Valletta piggy bank campaign raised Lm25,000.

Anthony Vassallo, who was in charge of the catering, calculated that around 2,500 coffees would be consumed during the marathon.

Technology had a very important place in yesterday's marathon. The amounts donated, whether by telephone, SMS or in person, could be seen almost in real time on the computers at the accounts department. All this information was also available to the organisers on their PDAs at the touch of a button.

More than 100 personalities took part in yesterday's marathon, entertaining the audience with singing and dancing.

Entrance into the marquee was governed by tight security. Mr Bondi explained that a maximum of 175 people could be inside at any one time and the audience and the people answering the phones were changed regularly.

The fact that yesterday was a working day for many people could have posed a hindrance during the first few hours of the marathon. This was the first year that l-Istrina was not held on a holiday.

And this was the last year that the annual fundraiser has been organised by Where's Everybody? Mr Bondi said l-Istrina had become bigger than the company and was recommending that a foundation be set up to take care of the organisation.

"Although organising the marathon is a very hard job, it gives us a good feeling and we love doing it. But it has become bigger than us and should therefore have a life of its own," he said.

Excited to the point that he was almost unable to speak, Mr Azzopardi said he would miss the organisation of the marathon next year, although he would still help out.

"You have to grab this day because it is a time to help people in need," he said.