Intersport for children of Heroes: a real Olympic holiday took place in Lviv
2 April 2024 16:19
on 30 March, the joint project of Intersport, Epicentre and the National Olympic Committee of Ukraine “Intersport – for Children of Heroes” was launched at the Epicentre in Lviv, Komersant ukrainskyi 
reports.
Almost 60 children interested in sports, wards of the Children of Heroes Charitable Foundation aged 5 to 17, whose parents died as a result of the full-scale war in Ukraine, took part in the Olympic holiday with the participation of famous Ukrainian athletes.
“Believe in yourself as much as we believe in you” is the slogan that became the main leitmotif of the project and the sporting event for the children of fallen Heroes.
Multiple Olympic champions and medalists of different years, world and European champions, winners of international and national competitions told the children about the qualities they would need to succeed in sports. Sports quizzes, exercises and relay races with a ball added positive, bright and unforgettable emotions to the children.
“You never know how strong you are until you take a step forward,” Michael Jordan once said. And it is in order to unlock the potential and inspire children who lost their parents during the war to achieve their personal and great victories that we launched the social and sports initiative Intersport for Children of Heroes. The first event was held at Intersport in Lviv, where the Foundation’s wards and athletes of the NOC were invited. As part of this event, Intersport fulfilled the sports dreams of every child. The children’s eyes were shining with happiness during the event. We dream that their childhood will be just like this – sporty and happy. Because sport is the way that teaches you to win!”
– said Yulia Maksymenko, Director of Intersport Ukraine.
At the end of the Olympic celebration, famous athletes presented the gifts the children dreamed of: bicycles, scooters, tracksuits, sneakers, balls, badminton, volleyball, tennis, roller skates, boxing gloves, dumbbells, fitness equipment, backpacks, etc. Epicentr and Intersport helped to make the children’s sports dreams come true.
“Epicentr continues to help children! The gifts they only dreamed of came as a complete surprise to many of them. Bicycles, scooters, boots, footballs – everything that will help make their sports and life dreams come true, we were happy to give them. We will continue to support the children and continue such sports meetings in other cities of Ukraine,”
– said Iryna Shynkarenko, Deputy Head of Communications, Advertising, Public Relations and Media at Epicentre K LLC.
The project participants admitted that they now know how to start their sports career and that if they really want to, they can reach the highest heights.
“Every child deserves happiness and the opportunity to realise their dreams. The Intersport for Children of Heroes project is a contribution of our partners to give children of fallen heroes self-confidence, joy and inspiration. From our own experience, we know that such events have a positive impact on the overall well-being of children, so we need enough resources to be able to continue supporting children in the same way,
– said Tetyana Novytska, CEO of the Children of Heroes Charity Foundation.
The event was also joined by a large group of well-known Ukrainian Olympians, including 2008 Olympic silver medallist Yuriy Sukhorukov (shooting), champion and multiple medallist of the World and European Championships Vitaliy Vergeles (rowing), Olympic participants Roman Bondaruk (shooting), Anton Dukach (luge), Volodymyr Goza (weightlifting), Roman Bundz (rowing), international masters of sports in bullet shooting Anastasia Nimets, Volodymyr Pasternak, Svyatoslav Gudziy, Gleb Kigitov, Sofia Paklikovska, participants of the IV Winter Youth Olympic Games in Kangwondo 2024 sledge sledders Andriy Muts, Oleksandr Oleshchenko, Daria Nekoteneva, as well as players of the leading handball club Halychanka, representatives of the NOC of Ukraine, head of the NOC of Ukraine in Lviv region Yuriy Turyansky.
Intersport is a company that helps people find their place in sports and provides the best solutions for this. Since the beginning of the war, Intersport Ukraine has been actively helping and supporting children. In winter, the company donated 5966 pieces of high-quality winter clothing and footwear to children who lost their parents due to the war – for a total of over UAH 12 million.
