Instagram widget LENA MARIA & FRIENDS FOUNDATION
collects money to help people with different disabilities with special needs worldwide.
The purpose is to engage in diaconal activities with and for persons who, because of disability, illness or age, need special help.
In collaboration with both sister organizations abroad as representatives of churches and Christian relief agencies, the Foundation wants to conduct ancillary activities consisting of assistance to disabled people in other countries.
THE BOARD
We are, from the left:
Thomas Ekman, Rut Lindmark, Patrik Vendelius, Lena Maria Vendelius, Inger Ekman, Rolf Johansson and Anna Johansson
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On October 8, 2021, Thomas passed away after a period of illness. He was an incredibly wise, warm and empathetic person who saw every person he met with love. Thomas and his wife Inger have been on the foundation's board since the start and we miss him immensely.
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A LITTLE HISTORY
The Nichescu family
Several years ago I had the pleasure of helping a Romanian family – the Nichescu family. Sergiu, the head of the family, doesn’t have any arms, just like me, but our lives have looked completely different.
In 2004 and 2005, I conducted three concert tours where money was raised so that Sergiu and his family could buy their own apartment in Timisoara. This was the starting point for my Foundation.
On my tours when I go abroad, I sometimes meet people with disabilities who are in need of help. Through my fundraising foundation, I can now help more people. My mission is to help people who need help, one by one.
OUR PROJECTS
Christian care foundation for Children with Disabilities (CCD)
On my tours in Thailand, I have, through my concerts, raised money for an orphanage in Bangkok for children with various disabilities. In Thailand, it is still a great shame to have a child with a disability. It is believed that the family has bad Karma. If you choose to keep such a child, it will have difficult consequences for the whole family. Therefore, many mothers choose to abandon the child.
Lena Maria & Friends Foundation supports CCD which is run by Christian Thais, and in collaboration with hospitals and other agencies in the community, they take care of helpless children. It is a pleasure to visit the orphanage every time I am in Thailand.
You can read more about the orphanage on their website: ccdthailand.org
In 2012, I had the great pleasure of helping a boy in Uganda through my Foundation. His name is Moses Murungi and he was born with half arms and half legs. Moses went to a regular class in elementary school and has learned to write by holding the pen between his armpits. He is incredibly forward and enterprising!
His parents carried him the three km to and from school but when he grew older and heavier and they needed something to travel on. Our Foundation then bought his family a “Bodaboda”, a motorcycle to help.
Now Moses has completed his primary school education and in December 2024 he graduated from Kyambogo University. We at the Fundraising Foundation are very proud to have been a part of making it financially possible for Moses to be able to study. He has now a degree in economy. What will become of this man in the future?
NTV Uganda made a report about him on his graduation day:
In 2024, our Foundation had the joy of helping three boys in Uganda.
- Ezra is 16 years old and has a great interest - knitting sweaters. He is currently attending a vocational training course and then wants to establish his own knitting business. Ezra was born with severely deformed legs that prevent him from being able to walk and as if this were not enough, Ezra is also an orphan.
Thanks toyour financial donations, he can now complete his education, get a new wheelchair and his own knitting machine.
- Gerald is 10 years old and started in a regular school but now goes to a special school in the city of Kisoro. He was born deaf and mute and has a younger brother, Ambrose, who is also deaf and mute. Gerald's family is very poor.
Thanks to your financial donations, he can now go to a special school for another year and help his family with the extra expenses they have due to his disability.
- JBÂ (Mwebaze John Baptist) is almost 7 years old and has a CP injury and sometimes has severe epileptic seizures. His mother is a midwife and has taken care of her son alone, JB's father abandoned them when JB was four days old. JB can see and hear but is unable to talk, walk or sit on his own.
Thanks to your financial gifts, he can now stay for another year at the orphanage in Kampala for children with disabilities and help his mother with the extra expenses she has due to his disability.
Lena Maria Vendelius
President and Founder
Here's a film about the things my Foundation has helped with:
Do you want to support my Foundation?
Use The Lena Maria & Friends Foundation’s bank account:
IBAN: SE04 1200 0000 0123 5022 3124
BIC/SWIFT: DABASESX
Danske Bank
Borgmästargränd 10
551 12 Jönköping
Sweden
Or use Paypal to donate:
