The event “Marbella Charity Night” held at Hotel Castillo de Monda yesterday raised €64.650 in aid of the “Free a Girl” foundation through an auction of 15 exclusive items.
The proceeds will be used for the campaign “ School for Justice in India” backed by the “Free a Girl” foundation.
Free a Girl is an international organization dedicated to feeing young girls from prostitution and help to convict their capturers.
In the past 9 years, the foundation has helped free over 4000 young girls from brothels in Asia.
The Event
In addition to the auction and an extensive 12 course walking dinner served by chefs Steve Depp and Jaap Schaafsma, guests were treated to an exclusive mini-concert by Thomas Berge, Fred Diaz, George McCray and the Gipsy Bros.. The presentation was delivered by Claudia Schumacher.
Castillo de Monda pulled out all the stops to make this event a great success and apart from their usual excellent service and food, they presented their new service “Vedette de la Fete” serving delicious bites and treats to indulge de invited guests.
Furthermore the hotel was wonderfully decorated for the occasion. Guests were welcomed on a red carpet, the staff looked immaculate, the presentation of all dishes and beverages thought through and of course the entertainment was second to none.
Up for auction were some fantastic prizes including a meet and greet with Wesley Sneijder, a trip to Los Angeles including hotel, a Botox treatment, a weekend on a yacht and many more items that helped raising the incredible total of €64.500!
Marbella
Free a Girl is a Dutch charity organization however this year they have also been active outside of the Netherlands to raise fund and awareness for child prostitution.
“Child prostitution is a global issue and therefore needs an international approach” said Thomas Berge, ambassador of Free a Girl. “We are very pleased with the cooperation of the Dutch Marbella Business Club, Castillo de Monda and Claudia Schumacher. They have worked very hard to make this event a success and they exceeded all expectations” added the singer.
School of Justice
All proceeds of the charity event go to School for Justice in India. This unique project, that was recently awarded a “Lion”in Cannes, gives victims the opportunity to study to become lawyers and prosecutors so they can fight for and correct the impunity in their own country.
It is estimated that 1.2 million children are being exploited in the sex industry in India. Last year however, only 55 cases lead to a conviction.
“With the proceeds of the evening in Marbella, we will expose exactly what is going wrong with the legal system in India and we will start a lobbying process based on these young girls’ cases. This is desperately needed. The cases of these girls take too long, victims do not receive protection during the trial and there are simply not enough specialized lawyers. We also believe that specialized courts that only deal with human trafficking should be appointed. India has only one of those and that should be expanded” says Evelien Hölsken, co-founder and director of Free a Girl.
