For the second year in a row, around a dozen restaurants in Monaco are participating in the “La Fourchette solidaire” campaign launched by the association Les Enfants de Frankie. It will take place all summer.
Launched in the summer of 2018, the “La Fourchette Solidaire” campaign aims to support needy children in the region. Until August 31, the ten restaurateurs partners have the mission to collect a symbolic contribution of 1 euro on the additions. At the end of the summer, the entire amount will be donated to Frankie’s Children’s Association.
“We think that a euro is not a lot, but it is,” acknowledges Francien Giraudi, president of the association Les Enfants de Frankie, “people are sometimes reluctant to give, she believes.”
10,000 EUROS AND A MEDICAL BUS
And she’s right to believe it. The first edition raised 10,000 euros and provided a medical bus in the Paca region. This vehicle provides an opportunity for many children with intellectual disabilities to attend fictitious medical examinations (auscultation of the ears, mouth, eyes) and awareness sessions (discovery of the uniform of doctors, learning a blood test or vaccine).
“They understand better how things are going, and once in the hospital, they have less fear,” says Francien Giraudi.
Thanks to the operation, the association will be able to respond to requests and developments of projects in the region. The president has a particular goal: to provide hospitals with protective goggles so that children do not see what happens during stressful exams such as MRIs. “It’s not easy to set up, but I’m going to do it,” she promises.
The Children of Frankie are exported across the Channel and become “The Frankie Foundation for Children”. The goal is the same as in the Principality: to support sick children.
If the solidarity fork is not yet relevant in the British capital, a day of solidarity for children and a gala is already planned in the spring of 2020 with the presence of Prince Albert II.