Help Romanian Children in Need

WHO WE ARE

The Taxiul cu Bomboane Association was started up in 2016 by Mr Ion Cristian Roman.

Taxiul cu Bomboane (The Candy Cab) has a number of special destinations that it usually frequents: mainly the Paediatric Hospitals and Special Schools of Bucharest. Volunteers go there to bring smiles to ill or disabled children.

In other words, Taxiul cu Bomboane is ecologic, it only runs on love, the love of the people that choose to spend their free time hugging and reading stories to the children that need a little bit of hope and encouragement.

Volunteers of all ages, and professions from Bucharest and abroad come to read stories in hospitals or help people with disabilities find their way in life.

The Association welcomes support and volunteers in all of its current projects.

OUR MISSION

Our Association’s mission is improving the quality of life of ill or disabled children and we intend to do that through therapy activities, games and events designed to entertain the children and help them make friends!

Being hospitalized can bea sad and stressful experience for a child. Our members and volunteers want to make a change!

Taxiul cu Bomboane also has a special place for special children. We want to help them find a way and show them that they too can be useful – by teaching them a job or a trade at Bomboland!

PROJECTS

1. Story Evenings - a permanent project of therapy through playing dedicated to hospitalized children. The project is ran three times a week in Paediatric Hospitals of Bucharest.

The Project started in December 2015 with “Luna Poveștilor” (The Month of Story Telling). Ever since, our volunteers loaded up with cheer and books from the Candy Cab go through hospital parlours and read stories filled with hope and courage to the children.

Story telling is a widely practiced therapy in hospitals and specialized teaching institutions abroad. The stories can help children find solutions or change perspectives. Nearly 3000 volunteers have participated in this project until today, either through donating books or through reading!

2. “Little Pillows for Little People” reaching its second edition this year. Throughout the Easter Holidays, we gift happy and colourful little pillows to the children in hospitals. The pillows are the bearers of the hugs and kisses of over 1000 volunteers participating in this project!

3. “A Cupful of Candy”- a campaign organized on the International Children’s Day. On its first edition (2016) children have received personalized mugs filled with candy. The presents were gifted by adored cartoon characters and superheroes! Nearly 2000 people have donated mugs, bought sweets and were together with children on June 1st.

4. “The Christmas Tree Carnival” in Children’s Hospitals was organized between the 5th and 17th of December 2016. Volunteers of the Candy Cab had special runs to special children’s homes and special schools, where they delivered fruits, sweets, toys and books donated by over 2000 generous people.

5. “A Christmas Stocking Full of Candy” was the last special event of 2016 of our association. On December the 18th our volunteers visited all children’s hospital wings in Bucharest and brought the children magical stockings filled with candy, kisses and smiles

6. “Friday of Hope” is a recurring event happening every Friday, in which children from the Special Needs Schools of Bucharest, make a road trip to the "Star of Hope" horse shelter, where they interact with the horses, both for fun and for therapeutic purposes.

7. “Talking with the dolphins” is a monthly trip to the Constanta Dolphinarium, where the special needs children will attend a special show, only for them, after which each one of them has a change to interact with Ni-Ni and Chan-Chan, the resident dolphins. You can see a news footage of the event here.

8. “Bomboland” (Candy-land) is the latest project of the our association. The Candy Cab has received a 100 square meter space within www.flaros.com. This is where free workshops will be run for children with special or social needs.

To begin with, the children will learn to paint on wood, glass or canvas, making roses out of sugar or arrange flower bouquets. There will be 14 workshops that repeat twice a month, the lectors being volunteers of our non-profit organization.

The beneficiaries are children of special need schools that have finished the mandatory 10 class school system cycle who cannot identify themselves with other activities. The purpose is to introduce to them the feeling of usefulness and the idea of inclusion within the three previously mentioned activities.

How YOU can help

To start the "Bombland" (Candy-land) project, the space donated by Flaros SA must be converted. The only obligations due to our organization is the payment of utilities and renovating the space through our own financial means. What is needed in a more precise manner is converting and modernizing an existing bathroom, flooring the premises, putting up shelves and painting the walls.

So we need your help with making this happen.

And don't forget to like our Facebook page :)