From USA Today- John Travolta and Kelly Preston donated 70,000 rand (about $10,000) Saturday, June 12 to the Nelson Mandela Children’s Fund during their visit to South Africa.
The Hollywood couple were treated to a drum concert and serenade by some of the children the foundation has supported.
From the Nelson Mandela Children’s Fund official website
Johannesburg, 12 June 2010: The children of the Nelson Mandela Children’s Fund were in for a treat when John Travolta, a renowned Hollywood Actor and Qantas Global Goodwill Ambassador, spoke at an event entitled “Eye in the Sky, Foot in the Ground: Once in a lifetime event for Children”, in Saxonwold, Johannesburg, on Saturday, 12 June 2010.
John Travolta was in the country for five days as an Official goodwill ambassador for Qantas Airways, the official sponsor of the Australian soccer team known as the Qantas Socceroos. Travolta’s time was spent raising awareness about the Nelson Mandela Children’ Fund, as well as supporting the Qantas Socceroos in their quest to win the 2010 FIFA World Cup.
Travolta praised Nelson Mandela and expressed his delight and gratitude for the work that the Nelson Mandela Children’s Fund is doing to assist children in need. “Mr Mandela is a man of great moral standing, courage, and stature, and is an icon for many including myself. The work being achieved through the Nelson Mandela Children’s Fund is a further tribute to his legacy, as vulnerable children are given a lifeline through the Fund’s contributions. Certainly, it is making an immeasurable difference to the lives of thousands of children,” he said.
In turn, Qantas CEO Alan Joyce praised Travolta for his career endeavours, and for his participation with the Nelson Mandela Children’s Fund. “The great heights that John has reached in his ever growing career have occurred without him losing touch of reality and the things that drive every caring heart to make the world a better place for our children. His involvement with the Nelson Mandela Children’s Fund is proof of this, as he endeavored in lend a helping hand to raise awareness of their plight and managed to spend some quality time with the children.”
The Nelson Mandela Children’s Fund (NMCF) owes its origin to South Africa’s former president Nelson Mandela, who upon his release found himself living in a society that was blind to children. To give visibility to their cause he established the Nelson Mandela Children’s Fund as his commitment to children in 1995. That commitment found its way into the vision of the Fund as we know it today: Changing the Way Society Treats its Children and Youth. Says NMCF CEO Sibongile Mkhabela: “Mandela also realized that this was not a vision for him to champion alone. He invited others to lend a hand, with a little help from friends here and abroad, the enduring vision, to simply allow children to dreams continues to grow in leaps and bounds. We are truly honored to host and to add in the list of our friends, John Travolta, his wife, Kelly Preston, and daughter Ella, totaling their weight of support to a cause most dear to Mandela’s heart — the well-being of children and positive youth development.”