Sofia’s organization of the Bulgarian Red Cross has officially unveiled the new season of the #steniskanabala charity campaign. The program is taking place for the 5th year in a row and is aimed at the better education of young people in an underprivileged position. The idea is high school graduates to grant to this cause the money spared for official clothing, attending their prom with a special T-shirt baring the respective inscription. A total of 141 scholarships for 1st year students in need have been granted so far. 36 students in their second or third year have received one-time scholarships for excellent grades.

Let’s turn our backs on vanity, unifying for this charity cause, say the school leavers who will join the initiative this year. A total of 2,272 high school graduates have participated in the campaign so far and some EUR 25,000 have been raised.

Mino Karadjov from the Sofia Professional High School in Electronics supports the idea and comments:

“This initiative gives a choice: I can do something good for myself within a day, or I can help someone move on in his or her life. This is marvelous for me; I understand how important it is to receive support and to have a friend by your side in difficult times. There will always be conservative people and I can’t blame them. On the other hand I am open to campaigns of that kind. It won’t take a lot from me to show the people in need that I have faith in them. This will give them the necessary impetus to move on and chase their dreams.”

Let’s recall the start of the campaign: back in 2013 a whole class of high school graduates from the Serbian town of Pirot /with a large Bulgarian community and lots of Bulgarians travelling to that place/ went to their prom with T-shirts, instead of ball dresses and suits. The young people gifted the money saved to underprivileged children. In 2014 this gesture turned into the #steniskanabala initiative and conquered Bulgaria.

Mihaela Velkova from Sofia’s 22nd school will leave her fancy dress at home and will attend her prom in a T-shirt:

“The #steniskanabala initiative is something really good. More coevals of mine should take into consideration the fact that we’ve helped people to be happy. Education is one of the most important things and I think that everyone of us should join the campaign. We can be beautiful every day – this vanity, the proms… they are only for a day. Instead of focusing on how to be glamorous and pretty, we can unite on this particular day, helping young people in need.”

Many famous people joined the campaign as well – singer Venzi, vlogger Kris Zahariev and Bulgaria’s rhythmic gymnastics ensemble. Although the initiative is aimed at school leavers today, anyone can buy a T-shirt and donate a bit for the education of those young people who need this support.

English version: Zhivko Stanchev