Charity and Support Foundation Švieskime Vaikus

In 2013, the Švieskime Vaikus charity and support fund was established, one of the main goals of which is to provide children’s libraries in towns and villages with the best works of literature by Lithuanian authors. Over the years, the Foundation has published more than 70 books by Lithuanian authors with a total circulation of about 1.5 million copies. The Švieskime Vaikus Foundation is not only involved in publishing children’s books. Equally important is its mission to support the country’s creators, giving them the opportunity to tell their stories and share them with readers. The initiative of the charity and support foundation Švieskime Vaikus organises book presentations, meetings between writers and readers, visits to schools and public spaces, etc. Every year, in cooperation with the Lithuanian Writers’ Union and the Lithuanian branch of the International Children’s and Young People’s Literature Association, a National Children’s Literature Competition is launched, with an average of 56 authors participating in the competition, submitting 75 works. The best works are selected from all of them, and their authors are awarded cash prizes and stork statuettes minted by folk artist Marijus Stošis. The books of the winners and the second and third prize winners are published in at least 15,000 copies as part of the Children’s Library series and distributed free of charge to libraries, schools, kindergartens and other communities. Each year, 1,373 libraries and their branches and more than 2,000 other institutions receive Children’s Library kits. The Švieskime vaikus Foundation also actively contributes to the preservation of traditions. In 2018, on the occasion of the centenary of the restoration of the Lithuanian State, kindergartens in the country were presented with a special gift – modern, stylised national costumes. The designer Juozas Statkevičius created them, taking into account the uniqueness of each of Lithuania’s ethnic regions, the colours, patterns of fabrics and stripes. For this project, modern strips were woven especially for this project, based on authentic samples. 6592 costumes were made for kindergartens in Aukštaitija, 5132 for Dzūkija, 1172 for Suvalkija, 5104 for Žemaitija and Little Lithuania. In total, the Foundation has produced and donated 18,000 costumes for children.