Since 2013 AUMUND Cor­por­ation, USA, has been sup­port­ing the Funda­tia Ino­centi organ­isa­tion in Romania with an annual dona­tion. The con­nec­tion may seem tenu­ous at first sight but the ori­gins of this char­ity have their roots in USA. In 1990 a pho­tographic report in the Boston Globe by Amer­ican pho­tographer Michael Car­roll exposed the har­row­ing situ­ation of Romanian orphans. The “5 child policy” of dic­tator Ceaușescu had caused cata­strophic con­sequences in chil­dren’s homes, hos­pit­als and on the streets of Romania. Hav­ing wit­nessed these con­ditions Michael Car­roll was inspired to estab­lish the Amer­ican organ­isa­tion Romanian Chil­dren’s Relief, which has been fun­drais­ing in the United States ever since. In Romania Funda­tia Ino­centi, (“Found­ation of the Inno­cents”) was offi­cially registered in 1998 and has been help­ing chil­dren and young people from under­priv­ileged back­grounds since then. 40 employ­ees and more than 100 volun­teers are act­ive in hos­pit­als, schools, homes, and with indi­vidual fam­ilies.

Since 2020, along­side the Group sub­sidi­ary, the Aumund Found­ation has also been sup­port­ing pro­jects with the Romanian organ­isa­tion, which has impressed us for many years with its needs-ori­ented and com­mit­ted work whenever we have vis­ited its pro­jects in per­son. Our last visit took place as recently as Novem­ber 2023.

Cur­rently the Aumund Found­ation is sup­port­ing the Men­tal Health Lit­eracy pro­gramme, which aims to strengthen the men­tal health and resi­lience of around 500 under­priv­ileged chil­dren and young people.