Huge response to appeal for Sofia (6)
WEXFORD people opened their hearts and their wallets to the appeal to raise €7,000 to send a six-year-old girl to Italy for treatment for a rare form of dwarfism.
The appeal for six-year-old Sofia Nistor, carried in this newspaper last week, struck a chord, with many people reposting the page on social media with messages of support.
Within an hour of the paper hitting the streets on Wednesday, donations from Wexford people started flooding in and by early on Saturday morning, the €7,000 target had been reached, although other fund raisers were still under way over the Bank Holiday weekend and beyond and money is still coming in.
‘People are amazing and I want to thank all the people and the kind businesses of Wexford. We are grateful to have all our new friends,’ said Sofia’s dad Lucien.
He said any money raised over the €7,000 appeal, will go towards Sofia’s future treatment.
‘We couldn’t reach this without your help and support,’ Lucien said of the role played by this newspaper in highlighting Sofia’s plight.
‘We only had €800 before it went into the paper, now over 1,800 people have donated, some in cash dropped though our letter box, which we have put into a bank account for Sofia,’ said the family from Whitebrook, Whiterock.
Among fund raisers, Pettitt’s SuperValu staff took part in the New Year’s Day swim at Rosslare Strand came on board to donate all the money raised by them to the appeal.
The staff at Cappuccino’s donated all their tips from December 28 and 29 to what they described as ‘a very worthy cause’. Sofia’s dad Lucian is a former staff member and work colleague.
Sofia’s family said that within a few hours of the article being published, they had raised €1,905, and the money kept coming – and still is.
‘I just wanted to say thank you to all our new and old friends for the support, for sharing our story and believing in Sofia the way we do,’ said her mother Ana.
Sofia was born with a rare form of dwarfism affecting her health and development. When speech and occupational therapy failed to help, her parents discovered a developmental programme for special children designed by the Institute for the Achievement of Human Potential in Philadelphia in the US.
A more advanced programme is now needed, tailored to Sofia’s learning and development needs, and is available at the European headquarters of the Institute for the Achievement of Human Potential in Fauglia in Italy.