BELGRADE: World No.1 men’s tennis player Novak Djokovic has started a donation drive called ‘Season of Giving’ across his home country Serbia through his foundation (Novak Djokovic Foundation) alongside his wife Jelena Djokovic.
The duo have already raised $70000 through the campaign which began on New Year’s day and is expected to end on Tuesday. All the funds will benefit the foundation’s school builds program which aims at helping in enrolling more children in its preschools for quality early childhood education.
The foundation invested $751,802 in 2017 alone, and continued its efforts in a major way in 2018. In just one example, the foundation donated more than €30,000 ($34250) for the purchase of new furniture, sports materials and more to aid in the educational experience for four classes housed at two kindergartens in Serbia. To date, the foundation has reconstructed or built 41 kindergartens, and its work has benefitted more than 22,000 children.
“Investing in early childhood development is so important to us because we believe that to invest in early years is to invest in the future of our kids and the future of our world. Novak and I were so lucky to have had quality support, care and education at those formative years, but there are more than 50 per cent of kids in our country that don’t have this option,” Novak Djokovic Foundation co-founder and global CEO Jelena Djokovic said.
“That’s why this fundraiser is so important — to raise awareness about the importance of early childhood development and to motivate people to give back, because together, we can achieve so many great things!” “We are seeing similar problem in more or less many undeveloped countries. Novak is invited on many fronts to help out, especially in the field of education and sport. Our country is small, almost invisible to so many people. We feel big loyalty and need to first clean up our own garden before we tackle other world’s issues.
“We are learning so much every day on the field. We hope to use that knowledge for furthering our mission and vision beyond Serbia in the upcoming years.”
The foundation received an ATP ACES For Charity grant in 2013 and 2017. In 2012, Novak Djokovic was named the ATP World Tour’s Arthur Ashe Humanitarian of the Year.
