ThePrime Gala this year featured awards, entertainment and exceptional catering, making it a truly exciting evening at Žofin Palace. But it was the charity fund raising stole the show, thanks to the remarkable generosity of a whole host of individuals, organizations and companies.
In all, CZK 3.22 million was raised for foster care, far exceeding the two previous editions of the Gala. I’m greatly heartened by the response, since it was held under the auspices of the charity I set up last year, ThePrime Foster Fund. Its sole mission in life is to disburse all of the money donated to it to organizations and projects whose activities we feel promote the cause of foster care and improve the lives of families providing it.
There are many people to thank for the success of the evening, but I have to begin with the artists. The original works of are, donated for free to the Fund, are the foundation on which the rest of the drive is built.
Jan Kalab‘s stunning “Hollow Planet 922” fetched an incredible CZK 2.5 million thanks to Pavel Sovička’s generous winning bid. The silent auction, which ended at midnight, raised an additional CZK 430,000. Our therefor go not only to Jan Kalab but to:• Zeb One
Our list of gratitude has to be extended further, however. Not just to audience members who purchased a total of CZK 270,000 worth of charity raffle tickets, but most of all to the companies and people who donated some truly remarkable gifts.
•Resort po.spolu
Finally, my deep thanks go to Kateřina Toperczerová, who provided countless hours of pro bono work doing everything from forging relationships with the artists, finding exciting gifts for the raffle to drawing up contracts and organizing the pre-auction viewing of the paintings to be auction off. As if she weren’t busy enough as Event Manager of the Gala.
The amount we collected this year was unexpected, leaving us with the rather pleasant problem of re-thinking how the funds will be disbursed. The Gala raised a total of CZK 2.7 million during the first two years of the Gala, of which 100% of the funds collected went directly to Rozum a Cit — a non-profit that provides a wide array of services to more than 200 foster families around the country.
For 2025, ThePrime Foster Fund pledged to donate CZK 2 million to Rozum a Cit. These funds will be transferred this week.At the same time, the Fund will be sending CZK 400,000 to Hvezda, a charity we’ve been following now for over a year. We’ve been deeply impressed with their selfless work in collecting and distributing clothes and household items for foster families in Central Bohemia, for the socially disadvantaged and for Ukrainian refugee families. It’s an honor to be able to make a real difference in this worthy cause.
The remainder of the funds collected at the Gala will be distributed in the coming months, but only after careful consideration of potential recipients.
In addition to people and companies making donations as the gala, we’ve also been approached by several companies and individuals with contribution offers. I’m thrilled to be able to thank Chip Caine, Red Group a.s. and Siko Koupelny a.s. who have already made donations, as have Andrea and Roman Zikanovi, Milan Ešner.
This brings the total collected by ThePrime Foster Fund to over CZK 3.4 million! And yet, there’s a great deal that left to be done to ensure that children whose biological parents are unable to care for them can find the alternative families they deserve.
We’re actively seeking forms of cooperation, new donors or other forms of help to further the cause. With me on the Board of Directors of ThePrime Foster Fund are Eva McLean (with her extensive fostering experience), and Kateřina Toperczerová. The Board of Supervisors is made up of Carlo Gradl, Bryan Wilson and Petra Rychnovská.
-Robert McLean
