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Timeshare Charity Raises Roof for Orphanage in Central Europe

Press Release: Time4Sharing
December 20, 2004
BEIRUT, Lebanon -- The timeshare charity, Time4sharing, which started in November, 2000 as a simple movement, is creating more joy for Christmas than they had originally imagined.

The charity that gives "Fun to less fortunate Kids that Matter" has created magical fun days for over 8000 children in 90 events over the past four years.

The charity has a principal mission, to stimulate community interest in giving time, today's most precious commodity, to underprivileged children through its creation of magical fun days.

It is the brainchild of a formerly childless couple, Mike and Vivian Tolan who, after eight years of exhaustive attempts to become parents, finally after considering adoption, suddenly had twins, and in celebration and gratitude, began this work.

The charity, time4sharing.org, is the social heart of Platinum International, the Tolan's travel, property and timeshare company, who have offices in the various countries where their own staff act as the principal volunteers.

Platinum has solely sponsored the funding of over 85% of all events in these countries as we are more into "Raising Fun", than funds, says Platinum Chairman and Co-founder, Michael Tolan.

In the Czech Republic, various orphanages, more than 47, have benefited from being treated to a variety of events, from a simple day out to a water park, to a day of games and dancing. In 2001, over 650 orphan children were joined to break the record of the GOLDEN GATE dance which was recognized by Guinness Book in Czech Republic.

"This lighthearted idea of fun days and creating our mascot for the charity was born in Prague Zoo when the idea of asking the question "If I were an orphan, what would I really want?" and we came up with a list, including the obvious, … I would like to be adopted into a loving home and have things that normal kids have," explains Tolan.

"We wanted to work within our capabilities and mission, to try to create some special and extraordinary fun days where these kids could really have the time of their life, and with special attention from our staff volunteers who have jobs in the timeshare industry.

"We decided to have our first event at the Prague Zoo, and have an orphanage adopt an animal. A kangaroo was selected because we felt it had so much appeal and symbolism. It is well known for the female pouch, and it became our symbol of motherhood. We named it Boomerang, a Karmic promise of what you give, comes back to you, much like the famed Australian stick," said Tolan.

"We witnessed the thrill and pride of these kids when they knew that they were the new parents that day."

"This was part of our empowerment wish for these kids. It was a great event, so we in turn, at every event, have our mascot Boomerang, as we call her, which is one of our staff in a kangaroo costume, show up and entertain and mingle with the kids," said the proud father of the charity. This community action group enlisted the national airlines, the phone company and other top businesses to also take part with volunteers and gifts the kids," he added.

The charity is now also registered in Lebanon and is active with movements in other countries such as Malta, and Slovakia. Over 90 active fun days have been put on by Platinum hosting a Time4sharing fun day in the past four years.

Earlier this year, the charity inaugurated a Monument of Peace on International children's day at Unesco Palace in Beirut, Lebanon, together with the First lady of Lebanon and 100 orphans from every religious faction in Lebanon. This was the crowning of the significance of the charities impact in that country, and was largely backed by Platinum as part of their Tenth anniversary in the region.

At the event, the Special Representative for the Secretary General of the UN, Mr. Steffan Mistura, praised the charity for its mantra of spending quality time with children that matter.

The Monument of Peace created by the charity stands 8 feet high and is a sculpture of a Cedar Tree, Lebanon's national symbol. It featured 18 doves of peace, each dove representing each of the 18 various religious communities in Lebanon who today co-exist in peace.

The UN spokesman then identified the metaphor of the tree, as a symbol of life, and challenged the charity to work with the villages in southern Lebanon whose trees have been destroyed and replant a forest there, where landmines once had occupied the same grounds.

Time4sharing became the first NGO, non - governmental agency, to take on such a project, because previously only a few governments including the Czech Republic had offered trees to the war torn area.

Time4sharing.org will deliver the forest in February 2005, planted by volunteers and with an army of children, who will partake in a "fun day" of tree planting, prizes and games in the "Trees instead of Mines" initiative created by the UN.

In Prague, Time4sharing had planned its routine Christmas event in Prague, and the Orphanage that was drawn from the hat, was selected and arranged to create a fun movie day with the charities volunteers.

However, the charity mobilized to a different beat shortly after horrific storms ripped through the TATRA mountains on November 13th."

"The devastation of the forest there was tantamount to a hurricane, with winds reported at over 175 miles per hour. All of the forest, everything wiped out in an instant. Many say it will take 7 years to replace the loss of the forest," said one volunteer.

"We researched if any orphanages had been affected and we discovered that one had suffered serious roof damage and that snow was still coming inside the home that 63 children occupy, and they were cold," said Petra Reisova, Central European Coordinator for Time4sharing.org.

'This was our call to action, to not only begin to raise awareness for the need to repair the roof, but to collect presents for all of these kids, and to begin a simultaneous tree drive through a community action project, she said.

"Our project is called "Hope for Tatras" and it will be an ongoing project in the months and possibly years ahead. We will raise awareness in both the Czech Republic and Slovakia by asking people to attend our events for underprivileged kids and at the same time give a tree to the Tatra project.

" `Adopt a child for a fun day and a Tatra tree for Life' is our new battle cry," asserted Reisova.

On Friday, December 10th, the first initiative of this movement began in Prague. The children of the Dolni Pocernice orphanage together with Time4sharing volunteers, exchanged gifts and had a candle lighting ceremony for the Tatras.

McDonald's sponsored their lunch and a local cinema insured a continued day of fun and laughter with a free viewing of Polar Express.

Prior to arriving at the Slovensky Dum for the added fun, the children of the orphanage presented a Slovak volunteer with their little "Tree of Hope".

This tree will be transported to Bratislava, Slovakia's capital by the "Good Will Train" from Prague, where on the 20th of December, the First Lady of Slovakia will be receiving as her guests, the Time4sharing children of Slovakia, in the Presidential Palace.

During the event, at precisely 6 pm, 'candles of hope" will be lit at the Presidential Palace and in many parts of Slovakia, to remember the two people who lost their lives in the flash storm and to gives thanks for all the people of Slovakia for the new year and all those people who hold dear the beautiful and precious nature of the Tatra Mountains.

The Tatra mountains, the highest in the Carpathian range, were ski resort attractions for many Europeans prior to the devastation. Platinum had planned a Timeshare Resort for International tourism to be completed in 2006, until the disaster struck. "This may delay the project for a few years, but we are determined to work with committed partners to complete this magnet for the tourism industry in Slovakia," added Tolan.

Time4sharing works with many other organizations such as Special Olympics and UNESCO and is open to any and all cooperation on the Hope for Tatras campaign.

Time4sharing will be happy to direct concerned parties who wish to make a difference by contacting by email : help4kids@time4sharing.com