THE RESIDENT is organising a charity lunch to mark International Missing Children’s Day on Friday, May 25, at the A Paleta restaurant in Lagoa, at 1pm.
A one minute silence will be observed to remember all the missing children in the world including little Madeleine McCann who disappeared in Praia da Luz on May 3.
Guest of honour and speaker at the event will be Dr. Luís Villas-Boas, director of children’s shelter. Refúgio Aboim Ascenção in Faro.
The shelter was originally set up by Manuel Aboim Ascenção de Sande de Lemos in 1933 to support single mothers, later also offering medical assistance for newborns and premature babies.
Luís Villas-Boas started an infant emergency project in 1988 to care for children who were victims of physical and sexual abuse, neglect, abandonment and drug addicted parents. Now, the shelter can care for up to 100 children under the age of six, 24 hours a day, and has rehabilitated 500 children since 1985, with around 80 of those being adopted into new families.
Balloon release
Yellow ribbons will be sold at the event. Being the colour for joy, yellow reduces anxiety and worry, and brings peace. Participants may also purchase a special yellow or green balloon (green being the colour of hope) and attach to it their own private message to all the missing children in the world for our balloon release, which is planned to take place after the lunch.
Tickets to the lunch cost just 10 euros with all proceeds from the event going directly to the Portuguese registered charity, Instituto de Apoio à Criança www.iacrianca.pt. Included in the ticket price is couvert, the main course, dessert, drinks (water and wine) and coffee.
Numbers are limited, so buy your tickets early to avoid disappointment. These may be purchased at The Resident office at Rua Visconde de Lagoa in Lagoa or at the following places: Porches Pottery, Magna Carta Bookshop in Alvor, Griffin Bookshop in Almancil and the Silves Language Centre.
A Paleta restaurant is located on the main road to Carvoeiro past Plus supermarket.
Don’t miss this great opportunity to show that you care.
International Missing Children’s Day
THE INTERNATIONAL Missing Children’s Day is celebrated worldwide on May 25.
The main purpose of this day is to encourage the population to think about all the children who have been reported missing around the world and to spread a message of hope and solidarity on an international scale to parents without any news of their children and who do not know where their child is or what has become of him/her.
Origin of the day
On May 25, 1979, six-year-old Etan Patz was abducted in New York. He was never seen again. Over the following years, different organisations began to highlight this date, but it was not until 1983 that the President of the United States declared May 25 “Missing Children’s Day”.
This day has also been commemorated in Canada since 1986 and has had since then an international dimension.
