ZAGREB ZAGREB, Dec 8 (Hina) - The event called "Night of A Thousand Dinners", took place in Zagreb's Sheraton Hotel on Saturday night at which funds were raised for to Croatia's Mine Action Centre (HCR).
ZAGREB, Dec 8 (Hina) - The event called "Night of A Thousand
Dinners", took place in Zagreb's Sheraton Hotel on Saturday night
at which funds were raised for to Croatia's Mine Action Centre
(HCR). #L#
The charitable action, organised by the American Chamber of
Commerce in Croatia (AmCham), and U.S. and Canadian embassies,
pooled Croatian President Stjepan Mesic, Premier Ivica Racan with
his wife Dijana Plestina and many outstanding persons from the
public life.
President Mesic thanked all sponsors for their funds which could
save lives.
"Modern wars are especially brutal with hatred reigning after them
which kills relationships among people, and mines which kill the
innocent," the Croatian head of state said.
He added that the state mechanisms could not always solve all
problems and had limited funding, while the human solidarity was
without limits.
The AmCham president in Croatia, Tatjana Divjak, said in Croatia
there were still one million planted mines. She gave an interesting
piece of information that three American dollars were needed for
the planting of one mine, while USD 1,000 were required for its
removal.
She said that AmCham organised this charitable dinners for the
second consecutive year in Croatia. Last night, about 42,000
dollars were raised in Croatia on that occasion, and the funding was
used for the removal of mines from land of Osijek-based
Agricultural Institute, eastern Croatia.
Last year's Night of a Thousand Dinners engaged tens of thousands of
individuals in more than 35 countries all over the world and raised
$1.4 million.
The U.S. Ambassador to Croatia, Lawrence G. Rossin, said he hoped
this year's event would be by 25 percent more successful in Croatia,
which was the most successful country in last year's charitable
event (organised at a joint initiative of the Canadian Landmine
Foundation and the United Nations Association of the USA.)
Canadian Ambassador to Croatia Dennis A. Snider also pointed to the
problems of land-infested areas.
The dinner in Zagreb's Sheraton was sponsored this time just as last
year by "Diners Club Adriatic".
"Night of A Thousand Dinners" is a part of an international project
aimed at offering assistance to some of the most heavily mined
countries in the world such as Afghanistan, Bosnia-Herzegovina,
Cambodia, Croatia, Mozambique and Vietnam.
The project is supported by some world famous people such as Paul
McCartney, his wife Heather Mills, Alec Baldwin, Eric Clapton,
Leonardo di Caprio, Harrison Ford, Billy Joel, Lucy Liu, Joni
Mitchell, Rosie O Donnell, Robert Redford, Susan Sarandon and Kevin
Spacey.
(hina) ms