Preparations in full swing for Christmas charity programme

Where's Everybody is busy making preparations for the annual Christmas charity programme L-Istrina, which will this year give 50 per cent of its proceeds to the Malta Community Chest Fund.

Last year, Peppi Azzopardi and his team raised a record sum of Lm476,000. However, the event was somewhat marred by controversy after a number of Labour MPs and Super 1 personalities refused to back the campaign. The MLP said it would once again not be taking part.

Mr Azzopardi said when contacted that L-Istrina was a charity event and Where's Everybody "did not wish to get into any kind of polemics".

They would still issue invitations to everybody.

Mr Azzopardi said that General Workers' Union general secretary Tony Zarb and the union's council would be opening the programme.

The team produces the programme on Public Broadcasting Services on a voluntary basis with no remuneration, after three months of preparation, he said.

This big event, which will once again be aired on PBS between 1 p.m. and midnight, will be held on December 28.

This year the MCCF will get 50 per cent of all the proceeds, while another 20 per cent will go to Razzett tal-Hbiberija, 20 per cent to the Life Cycle for the renal unit, five per cent to Moviment Missjunarju Gesu fil-Proxxmu and another five per cent to the Jesuit Refugee Service for children with Aids in Brazil.

"When we witnessed the enormous amount of help that the MCCF gives to so many organisations, it was decided that it should be given 50 per cent of the proceeds," Mr Azzopardi said.

He explained that there was a selection committee, led by Magistrate Jacqueline Padovani Grima, that decided which organisation should get the money collected during L-Istrina.

Last year, Lm286,345, went to the MCCF, while the rest went to four other philanthropic institutions.

MCCF chairman Violet de Marco said the community chest fund worked to help all those in need, from individuals to organisations.

The different committees worked hard to ensure that each case was genuine and several house visits were carried out to determine the exact needs and to vet the application.

"We receive thousands of applications for help each year, and with last year's proceeds from L-Istrina we were able to extend the help we give to many more cases," Mrs de Marco said.

She said they were seeing a lot of new cases of hidden poverty among single mothers, women with breast cancer who needed to pay for expensive life-saving medication and families who subsisted on nothing.

When asked if any case tugged particularly at her heart strings, Mrs de Marco recounted a story of a family where the mother cooked dinner for her four children on one single gas lamp.

"We receive all kinds of requests and MCCF tries as much as possible to reach out to everybody from the young, to the elderly, religious organisations... the list is endless," she said.

For the first time this year, entrepreneur Robert Farrugia Vella, director of Crosscraft Co. Ltd., has come forward pledging to give two per cent of all his sales from today to the programme towards L-Istrina.

This initiative was launched last night on the television programme Xarabank and Mr Farrugia Vella encouraged other businessmen to follow suit.

L-Istrina team member Marthese Busuttil said that this year they were also encouraging companies not to spend money on Christmas cards, but instead to go on L-Istrina, donate a sum of money and wish their clients the season's greetings live on television.

Ms Busuttil said that this year they were also inviting Maltese artists to donate one of their works which would be exhibited at St James Cavalier and auctioned - all proceeds will go towards L-Istrina.