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Friday, May 13, 2005

Money's Too Tight to Mention

I was shocked to learn that Id-Dar tal-Providenza is facing serious financial problems. The annual Kerygma Volleyball Marathon has apparently been quite instrumental in keeping the place going for the past several years.

The announcement comes with concerns about the fact that the Kerygma Volleyball Marathon has been cancelled this year. All this makes me realize how we take so many things for granted.

There was a time when the Kerygma Volleyball Marathon did not exist. I remember collaborating with Fr Charles Fenech and several Kerygma activists to publicise the first editions of this fundraising event via Radio Malta about 15 years ago. Charles Flores, Radio Malta's Head of Programmes at that time, was very supportive of the cause and put aside several hours of airtime for the marathon each year. We had studio interviews, phone-in reports from wherever the marathon was going on, and even fully-fledged outside broadcast shows featuring DJs and radio presenters live from the volleyball court. Part of the reason we did all this was to keep up the festive spirit for the participants; not that they really needed much cheering up back then.

All this started at a time when the only other charity fundraiser on the local airwaves was Milied Flimkien, the successor of the annual Christmas Ring Us Up campaign and the antecedant for L-Istrina and its current ilk.

Running a complex such as Id-Dar tal-Providenza costs tens of thousands of liri each month. So when an important source of its revenue disappears, albeit temporarily, it is indeed cause for concern - particularly when one keeps in mind that Id-Dar tal-Providenza is a truly charitable institution in every sense of the word.

If, as St Paul famously explained, charity is a synonym for love, then this is a case where money can buy love...and apparently lots of it. The angels need to see us making love.

Anonymous Mark Anthony Spiteri said...

I have posted a reaction to your post here: http://blog.mspiteri.com/blogItem.aspx?ID=52 

8:07 PM, May 15, 2005

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