Villa Pardoes

Wow what and experience, I went to Villa Pardoes and had a little tour.
For so long I have wanted to help do something for Villa Pardoes but going with Marianne, Anja and Hugo it really opened my eyes.

As I have said in a previous blog Villa Pardoes is for terminally ill children and their family, they stay free for a week at the villa, they get free entry in to the Efteling and also a small handful of other theme parks in the area. The Villa has 8 rooms so can accommodate 8 families at 1 time, the cost for the Villa per week is 13,600 euro (about the same in American dollars) to look after the families this covers the accommodation, medical facilities at the villa and a little wear and tear.

All the rooms have a theme, we got to see the Snow White room and the Barbie room, there is also a Space themed room, a Knights room the other themes I can not recall right now.
The whole concept of Villa Pardoes actually was thought up and come from the basis from the organization "Give Kids The World" in America. Villa Pardoes is run with a small amount of staff but a large amount of volunteers, 80 to be exact everything from, daycare, gardening and even a craft corner.

The design of the Villa is amazing, the smallest details that make such a change to a child's life, the person giving us the tour explained how even a lowered handbasin was warmly welcomed by some children who are in wheelchair's, she continued to explain how some children at home do not even have that luxury.

I was just totally blown away with some of the things there, things we do not even think about.
I was saddened to know that some children who stay at the villa have never played in a sandpit because of bacteria, at the Villa they have a sandpit that is monitored regularly for bacteria and many times the first thing children do when they come in the door is go there to play as they have never done it before.

I left with the feeling how can I do more to raise money, then again it is not always money that helps right? As it was pointed out to me that even the smallest thing made a big difference, how little boys love big cars and that a ride in a Hummer or a Truck makes a child smile for hours, something that would cost nothing but a little, a small amount of gas to an owner of the car/truck but brighten a child's life for a long time to come. I am sitting here now for hours trying to think what I can do what can WE ALL do ?

The photo is on Marianne and Anja handing over a donation they made from a singing cafe. Keep up the good work ladies.