In March, the ‘Gift of Life’ cancer treatment foundation received around 30 percent less in donations than in the same month last year. A particularly sharp drop occurred in the middle of the month, immediately after the state of emergency was declared in Estonia to stop the spread of the COVID-19 virus.
A total of 153,000 euros was donated to the foundation in March. In the same period, we paid out 233,000 euros to cover the medical bills of Estonian patients. As such, the foundation ran at a loss of 80,000 euros for that one month alone.
Due to the state of emergency, the foundation has suspended all donation-collecting activities in shopping centres. Dozens of events which our volunteers were planning to attend to do good deeds have been cancelled.
“Thank you to all of our supporters, especially those who are with us even in these toughest of times,” said Toivo Tänavsuu, the head of the foundation. “Thanks to you, we have been able to help all cancer patients in Estonia who have turned to us for assistance and form part of our target group. We haven’t had to – and hopefully never will have to – choose between people. However, the gap between people’s need for help and our ability to help them has been shrinking by the day.”
The foundation invites every Estonian resident and business to contribute as little as one euro per month in support of cancer patients fighting for their lives. If every person in the country donated one euro a month, more than 10 million euros would be collected in a single year.
This year, the foundation received a 20,000-euro operating grant from the state budget. This number is 150 times less than the amount of VAT we paid to the state for buying medicine in 2019.
Close to 100 families have been helped by the foundation so far in 2020. In total, we have contributed more than 700,000 euros to the treatment of Estonian people.