Silves Rotary Club and Almancil International Rotary Club (AIRC) recently joined forces to provide some much needed support to Castelo do Sonhos, a charity for the underprivileged set up in 1999 and located in Silves.
The charity is a private institute for social welfare which distributes food, clothing, bedding, furniture, babies’ and mothers’ requirements to poor families in the Silves area. They receive donations from the regional food bank, private donations of needed items and money to cover transport costs (to places as far away as Saõ Marcos da Serra). They currently support 2,355 families providing for 8,500 people including 3,000 children and 125 babies.
The Charity works in collaboration with Centro de Apoio Familiar e Aconselhamento Parental (CAFAP) which provides assistance through professionally qualified social workers to underprivileged families and is partly funded by Castelo do Sonhos. “We do not discriminate,” said Liliana Rodrigues Founder and President. “We help many nationalities apart from Portuguese but of course we need to take steps to ensure we are helping the right people. Applicants first go through an interview process with a professional social worker who will assess their needs based on their financial and social circumstances. Once registered, they are given a card which entitles them to come to our centre once a month to collect supplies. Our six volunteers and I do our best to provide whatever they need. Currently we are desperate for cots, baby clothes, baby food, nappies and everything concerned with the care of a new-born. It is a little known fact amongst people who no longer have little ones that it is against the law for a baby to leave hospital in their parent’s arms; the baby must be placed in a carry cot – in Portuguese an Ovo. Of course our clients can’t afford to buy them so we try and provide these too”
On hearing of their plight, the President of Silves Rotary Club, Alan Winn, and AIRC Community Services Chairman, Peter Hinze, put together a shopping list of the most urgent items and purchased five cots, seven baths, seven potties and ten carry cots. With a 10% discount on these items from Continente Supermarkets they were also able to purchase baby milk, shampoo and other small requisites for a new-born. “We only wish we could do more,” said Alan Winn “but we help a lot of other charities and our funds only go so far. We would urge anyone who could help with clothing, furniture or baby food to contact Sra Rodrigues at the charity, telephone 282 441 654, or email geral@castelodesonhas.pt, or the Rotary Clubs of Silves or Almancil. This is a very deserving charity and they are grateful for all the help they can get. As well as providing items to make day to day living easier, they also provide psychological support at home but the psychologists only have 95% of their salaries paid by the state, and the remaining 5% plus petrol expenses has to be raised by the charity, so donations are also welcome”.
W: www.rotaryalmancil.org
W: www.silvesrotaryclub.org
