November 2005
UNESCO Gala 2005 - New commitment overwhelms Director
"Children are the future. We must help them to grow."
This call from American actor and Oscar winner Jeremy Irons received long continuing applause at the 2005 UNESCO Gala on 12 November in aid of UNESCO's programme for the Education of Children in Need. Alongside him were film colleague and Dallas rogue Larry Hagman, and the actress Penelope Cruz, who has taken on the role of Patron for Education.
The program for the evening was presented by the actress Geraldine Chaplin, who has inherited not only her late father's talent but also his social conscience. Against the clock, donations for the evening topped 1.8 million Euro, helped not inconsiderably by the personal generosity of The StratREAL Foundation's Chairman, Pierre Rolin.
At the gala to formally present The StratREAL Foundation's donation to the Foundation for UNESCO - Education for Children in Need, Mr Rolin delighted the assembled celebrities with an unexpected personal donation of 250,000 Euros.
Dr Dieter Berstecher, Executive Director of UNESCO Foundation - Education for Children in Need commented, "I was overwhelmed – I had no idea – no-one knew what Pierre was planning to do. Pierre's generosity and commitment are an example to everyone, and will enable us to undertake significantly more work in the coming years."
