Throughout Christmas, Crown Prince Alexander and Crown Princess Katherine of Serbia have made a number of donations to improve conditions for Serbs in and outside the country. During the holidays, the distribution of Christmas gifts, provided by Crown Princess Katherine Foundation to various institutions for children throughout Serbia and Republika Srpska, was completed. More than 1000 children in 32 institutions such as orphanages, safe houses, and day-care centres for children with special needs received their Christmas presents in time for the holidays.
The children were delighted to receive gifts in Children’s Homes in the Serbian cities of Belgrade, Pancevo, Kragujevac, Sombor, Subotica, Novi Sad, Aleksinac, Bela Crkva, Trstenik, Vrnjacka Banja, Kosovo and Metohija, Banja Luka, Laktasi, Bijeljina, and Milino Selo. The children received clothing, shoes, school supplies, toys, sweets, and personal hygiene items. The basic necessities for food preparation such as flour, pasta, and lentils were also donated to the Children’s Homes.
The annual Christmas Party for the children, hosted at The White Palace, had to be cancelled this year due to the coronavirus pandemic. However, Their Royal Highnesses made certain that the gifts were personally delivered to the children at their homes throughout Serbia and Republika Srpska.
On New Years Evem Crown Princess Katherine presented educational supplies and equipment to the Ljolja Kindergarten in Belgrade, a school to more than 160 children, for the creation of a new School Library. With this donation, the school received a large bookcase, over 100 books in Serbian and in English, an array of educational toys, a laptop, an audio-visual projector, and a large viewing screen.
Following the donation Her Royal Highness said: “Children are our greatest wealth and it is very important that we take care of their proper development and education from the earliest age. Thanks to the wonderful people from Chicago who have been with us even in these challenging times, I am happy that we can provide the children with a carefree childhood, with a lot of play, joy and laughter.”
