 | | Volume 11, No. 2 |
Fall 2008 |
 |
| |
Matching Grant Expands Kosovo Development
 IOCC’s new initiative for Kosovo will help farmers get training and tools for income-generating projects. Above, the vineyards of Velika Hoca. Photo credit: J. Hanson/University of Maryland |
Belgrade, Serbia — IOCC recently announced that The John G. Rangos Sr. Family Charitable Foundation will support IOCC’s expansion of aid projects for Kosovo by creating a matching gift program. The Foundation will match every dollar contributed to IOCC Kosovo projects up to $50,000. The goal for IOCC’s Kosovo response is $500,000 and includes economic development projects for isolated rural communities in Kosovo and aid to some of the approximately 225,000 people who have been displaced from the region since 1999.
Funds contributed to IOCC for Kosovo will go towards providing immediate assistance to families who are living in isolated minority enclaves. IOCC will also expand efforts to provide sustainable agricultural training and other projects that provide employment and foster inter-ethnic cooperation. IOCC’s initiative will also provide assistance to schools and create educational and recreational programs. IOCC, which has provided assistance in Kosovo for the past 15 years, will continue to work with local community groups and the Serbian Orthodox Church, including the Visoki Decani Monastery.
“We need to provide a sustainable response that enables families to secure economic prosperity and a future for their children,” said Constantine M. Triantafilou, IOCC’s executive director. “The important support of John G. Rangos, a founder of IOCC and past chairman of our board, will provide new opportunities to assist families in Kosovo and to avoid further displacement of people in the Balkans.”
 Schools in isolated enclaves in Kosovo will receive further assistance from IOCC through a
special matching grant program by John G. Rangos Sr. Photo credit: N. Prelevic/IOCC Serbia |
|
