‘This is an emotional moment, with this we are taking Stichting Gilat to the next level.’ Jair Eisenmann, chairman of Gilat Foundation, didn’t know what hit him when Million Night winner Nathalie surprised his foundation with a cheque for 400,000 euros on behalf of the Postcode Lottery. ‘We can now really start making dreams come true,’ he said.
Jair Eisenmann and Gilat Foundation fundraiser Marleen Niesing actually thought they were having a serious meeting with the Postcode Lottery team, when Million Night winner Nathalie turned up on the doorstep with a cheque for a whopping 400,000 euros. ‘I can hardly believe it,’ spoke a visibly emotional Eisenmann.
The contribution helps enormously in realising Gilat Foundation’s ambitions:
‘Now we can really start taking steps with seven-mile boots. Gilat Foundation is completely dependent on gifts and donations. Thanks to our existing donors and funds, we have already been able to put on theatre performances in many places. Now, thanks to the Postcode Lottery, we can also significantly increase visibility. And we have even more ambitions: eventually we want to provide interactive theatre for all chronically ill children in the Kingdom. Not just in hospitals, also outside them for the sick children who don’t need to be in hospital.’
Entertainment so important
Jair Eisenmann set up Gilat Foundation with his wife Tali in memory of their daughter Gilat, who died in 2008 at the age of 11.5. ‘Gilat spent half her life in hospital. We saw for ourselves how tough it was and how little distraction she had. At Sinterklaas, Ernst and Bobbie always came by, then she went crazy with joy. That entertainment is so important for sick children. I don’t want to say it makes them better, but it makes them stronger mentally.’
You a chance, they a chance
Winner Nathalie, who last year received a cheque for a tonne during Million Night, was proud to make others happy this time. ‘I am a mother myself, and it seems so intense when your child ends up in a hospital ward. It’s great what Gilat does for those children, and I’m glad that the money is coming to such good ends.’ ‘It’s definitely getting there,’ Eisenmann complements her. ‘Losing a child is the worst thing in the world, but if she is forgotten, it is even worse. Thanks to the Postcode Lottery, hopefully the whole of the Netherlands will now get to know the Gilat Foundation, and we will keep our daughter alive!’
