Prominent Supporters
The first prominent supporter was the German British businesswoman Beatrice von Boch-Galhau, wife of the largest shareholder of the ceramic manufacturer Villeroy & Boch. She became friends with the at the time unknown Hermann Gmeiner. In 1959 she employed some of her private fortune to pay for the first Kinderdorf in Germany located in Merzig Hilbringen. She also used her husbands political connections to promote the SOS Kinderdorf idea which was first meeting resistance from the local majors.
Prominent supporters include Nelson Mandela, FIFA, the Dalai Lama, Kakha Kaladze, Andriy Shevchenko, Anna Netrebko, Vincent Kompany, Ruud van Nistelrooy, Cesc Fàbregas, Argentine footballer Javier Zanetti, Belgian tennis player Kim Clijsters, French writer & actress Anny Dupérey, Sarah, Duchess of York, English Child Actress Georgie Henley, Princess Salimah Aga Khan, Cher, Mike Holmes, June Carter Cash, and Johnny Cash whose memorial fund is towards the work of SOS Children's Villages worldwide. The organisation received the 2002 Conrad N. Hilton Humanitarian Prize.
SOS invites support from community groups, schools and individuals through participation in World Orphan Week--an international week-long event promoting awareness of the needs of orphaned and abandoned children.
Read more about this topic: SOS Children's Villages
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