MAJOR HUMANITARIAN CONCERT AT THE WHITE PALACE IN AID OF INCUBATORS WITH ST. GEORGE STRINGS

The Contribution of The Foundation of HRH Princess Katherine to the humanitarian action under the patronage of Holy Synod of the Serbian Orthodox Church “Let's Breath Life into Serbia”,

Belgrade 9 May 2004. – The Royal St. George Strings orchestra, under the patronage of HRH Prince Philip, held a humanitarian concert at The White Palace yesterday , Saturday 8 May , 2004 at 7 p.m., for raising funds for incubators for maternity hospitals, and neonatology wards in Serbia and Montenegro.

This concert was organized by The Foundation of HRH Crown Princess Katherine, as a contribution to the humanitarian action “Let's Breath Life into Serbia”, under the patronage of The Holy Synod of the Serbian Orthodox Church, and in cooperation with the marketing and PR agency “Profile”. The Foundation has been involved with this humanitarian effort since its inception in 2001, and since then has provided over 45 incubators for maternity hospitals around the country.

For a number of years, the mortality rate in Serbia exceeds the birth rate, and it is constantly on the increase. The Serbian population is declining dramatically. For every one thousand inhabitants fifty years ago there were twenty-five children born and since then it has gone down to ten in the last few years. In 2003 in Serbia the difference between citizens that died and newly born – was 35,000. An example would be town has expired and this is more than alarming. According to recent reports, the hospitals around the country urgently need at least 129 stationary and 36 mobile incubators.

This event was supported by the representatives of the Church, His Eminence Metropolitan Nikolaj, His Grace Bishop Pahomije and Father Milojko Topalovic from the Patriarchy.

High representatives of the Serbian Government and the Government of Serbia and Montenegro have enhanced by their presence this charity event, through which the Foundation of HRH Crown Princess Katherine is assisting our maternity wards: the Mayor of Belgrade Mrs. Radmila Hrustanovic, the Minister of Education Mrs. Ljiljana Colic, the Minister of Defense Mr. Prvoslav Davinic, the Minister of Culture Mr. Dragan Kojadinovic, the Minister of Energy and Mining Mr. Radomir Naumov and the representatives of the Road direction of Serbia.

Beside the representatives of the major local and international companies, the concert was also attended by Their Excellences the Ambassadors of Austria, Greece, Norway, Czech Republic, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Poland, Turkey, Argentina, India, Germany and Switzerland, as well as the Chairman of the Slovenian Chamber of Commerce Mr. Dmitar Polovina.

In the informal part of the evening after dinner, HRH Crown Princess Katherine was pleasantly surprised by the voices of the leading singers of the Belgrade Opera, Mrs. Aleksandra Angelov, soprano, and Mr. Miodrag Jovanovic, tenor, accompanied by the pianist Mrs. Vesna Souc, professor at the Faculty of Fine Arts.

The Foundation of HRH Crown Princess Katherine was established in Belgrade in August 2001 soon after HRH Crown Prince Alexander and HRH Crown Princess Katherine returned to their homeland after more than fifty years of exile. The main task is to continue and expand the humanitarian activities started back in 1993 in London when Lifeline Humanitarian Organization was founded. Lifeline provides humanitarian help to all those in need regardless of religion or ethnic origin. Today Lifeline humanitarian organization under patronage of HRH Crown Princess Katherine has its offices in New York, Chicago, Toronto, London and Athens, and the centre of all activities is in Belgrade, i.e. at the Foundation of HRH Crown Princess Katherine.

The Holy Synod of the Serbian Orthodox Church started a big action under the name "Udahnimo zivot Srbiji. The goal is to supply the hospitals in Serbia with the incubators for newborn babies.The reason that The Holy Synod determined itself to this cause is that in Serbia some 7 newborns die each day, which is 3 times more than in developed European countries, and one of the reasons for this is the lack of these expensive devices. This fact speaks enough for itself and is alarming and serious enough to call to action anyone who is capable of helping in any way, especially in this particular moment for the Motherland. The purpose of this action is to buy at least one incubator to each maternity hospital in Serbia

The Chamber Orchestra of St. George Strings (http://www.st-george-strings.org.yu) was founded in Belgrade in 1992 аs а group of young people, most of which former students of the Cuprija School for Especially Gifted Students, as well as the Belgrade Faculty of Music.St. George Strings have performed over 500 concerts in the country and abroad. The patron of this outstanding orchestra is HRH Prince Philip Karadjordjevic.

“Profile” (http://www.eu-profile.com) is a part of Marketing and PR agencies’ network, operating in Belgrade, Novi Sad, Budapest and Banja Luka. Profil has been in business for 14 years and every year it organizes or helps one humanitarian action in the health area.