Once the sun had set April 12, RFE/RL colleagues gathered with thousands of other volunteers at Prague’s Stromovka Park to don their running head lamps and participate in a charity Night Run For The Blind.
In its seventh year, the night run is one of many fundraising activities organized by Czech Radio’s endowment fund for the blind, known in Czech as “Svetluska,” meaning firefly. Donations made to Svetluska go to help those with severe visual impairments. The charity provides individual home care assistants, organizes trainings, workshops, and leisure activities for the blind, and supports employment for the blind.
Night Run For The Blind participants completed either 2.5 or 5 kilometer routes to raise money and awareness. In addition to the Prague event, night runs are held throughout the year in the regional cities of Brno, Plzen, Olomouc, and Jihlava. Last year the night runs raised over 2.5 million Kc (roughly $122,000).