In 2008 Sanoma Hearst Romania (SHR) started a charity project by adopting the primary school in Crusov, a small village in the poor South-West of Romania. On 15 December 2009, SHR organized a Christmas lunch for all the children from the school.

Since 2008 SHR provided the school with used computers, takes care of the IT-network and helps the children with all kind of communication learning's; from using email to finding information on the internet. The magazines of SHR are involved in specific actions, for instance the editors of Gasa si Gradina created together with the children the school garden, Esquire helped them with the school magazine and National Geographic with learning about the environment.

Sitting at long tables, singing Christmas carols, the kids were especially excited when Santa Klaus, the chief editor of National Geographic, surprised them with a bag full of Christmas gifts, sponsored by advertising clients. The Christmas lunch was organized and served for free by Ana Catering in Bucharest. Els Loesberg, CEO of Sanoma Hearst Romania says: "We have a Charity Committee of 6 employees who takes care of the Crusov School and its kids. But in fact all our employees are from time to time involved in the project. For them it is interesting as well because charity is not a matter of course in Romania. Every two months one of our magazines realizes an action. The Christmas lunch was a fantastic experiment; we all worked hard to serve 150 kids the three courses. The atmosphere was very good, although it was very cold with snow and only one woodstove in the school. It was a joy in itself to see those little faces. For 2010 the next step will be to involve readers and users more via our magazines and websites. That makes the circle round".

About Sanoma Hearst Romania:
Sanoma Hearst Romania is a joint venture of Sanoma Magazines International (SMI) and Hearst Magazines International. Sanoma Magazines International (SMI) is a Business of Sanoma Magazines. SMI is responsible for Sanoma Magazines' activities in Central, Eastern and South East Europe. Sanoma Magazines is a leading publisher of consumer magazines and digital media that actively connect with a potential audience of 290 million consumers in thirteen European countries.* The company is a Division of the Sanoma Group, a strong European media group operating in diverse fields of media in twenty European countries.

* Sanoma Magazines has operating companies in Belgium, Bulgaria, Croatia, Czech Republic, Hungary, Finland, the Netherlands, Romania, Russia, Serbia, Slovakia, Slovenia and Ukraine.

For more information, please contact (not for publication):
Anca Ciucilin - President Charity Committee
Tel: + 40-31 22 58 700

Published on December 17, 2009

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