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8th "Hope" Sports Festival for children

On the 16th of May 2002 the eighth "Hope Sports Festival for Children" took place at the Luzhniki minor sports arena. HOPE worldwide - Moscow organized the event in cooperation with the Moscow Committee of Education. About 5000 children from Moscow orphanages and 1500 volunteers took part in the event. The Sports Festival is held every year and it includes sports and entertainment programs for children.

At the grand opening Shawn Wooten, Chairman of the board of directors of HOPE worldwide - Moscow, as well as Krutov N. A. deputy of Moscow State Duma, Zhuravleva N. E. head of the Moscow Committee of Education and social protection of children department, and Popov A. I., deputy director of the Moscow Administration committee of the regional and public relations, made speeches.

The motto of the Spots Festival this year was "One friendly team". It corresponded with the goal of the festival, which was to unify children and to help them make friends with the volunteers through sport. This year the number of orphanages participating was a record. Ninety-one orphanages were present. On top of that this year saw the advent of a new category, namely chess.

HOPE worldwide- Moscow is very grateful to the volunteers who sacrificed their time to serve children, to be with them the whole day and to make the Sports Festival a joyful occasion.

After the sports competitions the children had lunch and then rested before the real fun began. A concert included performances by such famous Russian pop singers as Christian Ray, Alexander Zaretsky, Willy Wilsimo, Anita Tsoy, Bozhiya korovka, and the "X-Mission" dance band. After the show the results of the sports competition were finalized and an award ceremony took place. The winners were awarded with certificates of achievement and every orphanage went home with a soccer ball and a certificate of acknowledgement. It was decided to give prizes to every orphanage in order to promote the spiritual aspect of children having fun in a holiday atmosphere. Instead of children competing, this tournament promoted an atmosphere of camaraderie.