The Victor Pinchuk Foundation named among winners of the Philanthropist Of The Year 2008 contest

The best charity givers, according to the "Philanthropist of the Year 2008" contest results were announced on Friday, 12th December 2008, in Kyiv. In the nomination for the Private Charitable Foundation, the Victor Pinchuk Foundation triumphed with its "Cradles of Hope" programme.
Also the winners of the competition became: the Coca-Cola Ukraine Ltd among the transnational companies, NIKO group among the big domestic companies and the "Velam" firm came first among the medium domestic companies. An international charity foundation Heifer Project International CF (Kyiv) won in the nomination for the Philanthropist of the Year - Charitable Organisation.

According to Svitlana Kuts, head of the panel and President of the Philanthropy Centre, the jurors took note of the innovative approach and duration of the outcome, when considering criteria for selecting the best charity foundations and organisations. The results of the "Philanthropist Of The Year 2008" competition were summed up right before the Charity Day that was celebrated on 14th December.
The "Philanthropist Of The Year 2008" took place for the second time in Ukraine. The event was organised by the "Ukraine 3000" International Charity Fund, Children's World All-Ukrainian Charitable Foundation, Philanthropy Centre, Ukrainian Philanthropists Forum and Civil Space Informational and Analytical Centre. The contest's major goal is to award and celebrate representatives of the Ukrainian public for charitable activities aimed at solving urgent social problems and propagating philanthropy in Ukraine.

The Cradles of Hope is one of the health programmes of the Victor Pinchuk Foundation. Its strategic aim is saving life and improving health of each newborn in Ukraine. The programme involves
• establishing a national network of the Neonatal Centres fitted out with the best hi-tech equipment the international market can offer, in order to provide help for the newborns;
• relevant professional training for the staff working in the Centres. Regular training sessions, seminars and conferences with the top specialists from Ukraine and abroad are regularly held under the programme.
• activities aimed at forming the community of professionals that specialise in aiding the newborns.