Vlad Placinta is a young man who is involved in supporting medical cases through the "Save a Heart" association. Within 7 years, it raised almost 7.5 million euros and supported 350 children suffering from serious illnesses and in need of complex and expensive medical interventions. He gave an interview to the Moldova Bunsiness brochure that we reproduce:

– The organization "Save a Heart" recently turned seven years old (editor's note: December 12, 2019). How did it come into being?

The idea of raising funds for medical cases came to me before I made an organized form. As a child and teenager, I had a spirit to help my fellow men. If I didn't have the financial means, at least with a kind word. The organization was born as a result of a project that I wanted to develop, namely a blog on the website of an Orthodox newspaper. At the beginning of 2011 I made a section of the blog: humanitarian appeals. Later I began to present cases of needy children.

– How do you select the cases you present seven years ago and what is the procedure now?

At first we selected the cases based on intuition. It is true that I also checked the medical documents, as much as I was able to do at that time. I presented to them on that blog the story and the medical documents as well as the bank accounts where people could donate. I later discovered ways in which they could donate in front of the computer, with their bank card. I also opened an online store, salveazaoinimă.ro in the hope that I will get closer to the business environment. We co-opted a few partners who sold products for children, and through the discounts offered by them, donations for medical cases were collected. Later I noticed that people were not buying. On February 4, 2012, on my birthday, I discovered a fundraising site in the USA. I analyzed it and realized that on individual cases there was no one in Romania who did such a thing. They had a very smart system, if you donated an amount of money you received services, in the same amount, from their partners. They had collaborations with various Spa centers. With the last money in the house since then, I told my wife that I wanted to make such a platform myself. She told me that I don't know if we can do without money, but I looked for companies with which to make the platform online. Also having partners in the online store, we said that for each donation we should offer discounts on the goods sold. When I launched the platform, I issued press releases and I gave an interview at that time to a newspaper in Iasi and they asked me about my future plans. Until that moment we have donations of 200-300 lei and I told them that the way they see things going in the country, in popular terms, this platform will "break you". At that time I was presented as a young man from Botosani with big dreams, but people don't flock to his platform to donate. When selecting cases, I started calling clinics. My medical documents were presented to me and I took my heart in my teeth to talk to the doctors. I made friends with doctors from Monza Hospital, on orthopedics, neurosurgery and pediatric cardiology, with Regina Maria Hospital, on the orthopedics side, with Medlife we had a few cases and with clinics in Turkey, Italy, Spain and the USA on the oncology and other very serious conditions side. All these clinics offer quality services with ultra-high-performance facilities and issue invoices that we can settle from donations.

– Do you only support medical cases concerning children or do you also have adults?

– We also have adults, but in their case we ask them to take care of minor children. It's hard to raise funds, and people hard to understand, for an elderly person. I don't know if we manage to raise only 10% of the money needed per case.

– How do you sort out the cases in which you apply?
We take over between four and six cases monthly. We make a well-established plan regarding the marketing system to raise the necessary amounts. The calculations are most upset when amounts appear
Overnight. Complications arise and implicitly extra expenses. It happens to us very often in cases with oncological diseases, when the patient does not respond to treatment. We continue the campaign until we manage to raise all the money.
– All cases have an emotional impact. We can say thatto a case that impressed you the most in all your activity?
– I have two cases that have impressed me a lot, although I am emotionally involved in all cases. It is about a 15-year-old boy for whom we managed to raise the largest amount
of money, about 200,000 euros for the treatment of bone cancer. I remember that the first time I shook hands with him, he was trembling with emotion as if I was I I don't know what star. Unfortunately it has passed
to the eternal. The second case is a 15-year-old teenager from the Bacau area. I have bonded myself spiritually and you can never present the story of the cases as the real drama is in reality. Talk to your parents to tell you what they are going through. I also went to the teenager's funeral. I didn't see greater pain than there, although it wasn't a sad funeral, the service being like a resurrection. The girl, before passing on to the eternal, prepared her way very thoroughly. She chose the place where she should be buried, how to be dressed, how to be remembered, she gave advice to the brothers. Few understand what parents go through for a sick child. These children are given by God as a lesson to us. I became attached to this child so much, without ever talking to her, I kept in touch with her father, and after the surgery in Austria she returned to the country safely, but after almost two years the disease relapsed. In her case, we raised 64,000 euros.

– What is the procedure after you have collected the money? Do you give it to parents or clinics directly?

– We work only on the basis of documents issued by clinics and all transfers are made through bank accounts. Unfortunately, some parents believe that this money is
donated for them, regardless of what happens to their child. I explain to them very clearly: people donated for a purpose. Their child is the center of attention, but people donate strictly for the treatment he needs. This way everyone has a need for their child and could ask for donations.

– Is there a portrait of the Romanian who donates in such cases?

– We made such a portrait based on statistics. It's about the simple man who today gives 2 euros. In a month he gives me five euros. Those with children are more sensitive to these cases. Mothers are much more attached and people who have gone through such events. There are also certain factors that influence the donation gesture such as the age of the child, how cute he is, the name. Many associate the name with a well-known person, even a child of theirs if there is such a coincidence. We have over 70,000 people who have donated so far, and so far we have managed to raise over 260 campaigns, over 350 children for whom we have raised almost 7.5 million euros. We are talking only about medical cases because we have also been involved in social cases by donating packages for children, medical equipment for the Pediatrics Department of the Mavromati Botoşani County Hospital and at the one in Hârlău, Iasi County.

– On the treatment side, do you insure other costs?

– For interventions abroad, we also provide the transport of the minor's companions, accommodation and treatment. And I urge them to have documents on everything they spend, tax receipts, invoices, etc.

– How is the relationship with companies. Do you have donations?

– We have a few companies that offer donations even annually. We have somewhere around 100 companies that support our actions. It is difficult to reach businessmen because many are less informed, and at the same time the law on sponsorships has changed.

– What would you change, from a legislative point of view, to facilitate this sponsorship process?

– It would be a solution for companies to be forced to donate, for various purposes, part of the taxes. Now it's just an option. The donation can be deducted from the corporate income tax. From the discussions held, as before, many do not trust and others are afraid of controls. This is how they give the money to the state and stay calm. For donations from individuals, the 2% of taxes on salaries help but too little because many people work on the minimum wage in the economy.

– Are you planning to expand your online fundraising services?

– We have already launched an application on an- droid Salveazaoinima sWe are now waiting for the approvals from Apple for the one on IOS. It is the only system for paying donations for individual cases for smartphones. The applications benefit the donor, he can see the payment history, he can set up to donate a certain amount automatically. The minimum amount starts at one euro.
It is much closer to human.

– What is the Save a Heart team?

– I am the president of the organization and I deal with negotiations with clinics in the hope of lower amounts for medical interventions and I meet with companies on the donation side and organize
Activity. My wife is a secretary and deals with the documents, we have a specialist in the media and my mother keeps in touch with the donors.

– What is the fundraising procedure? Do you collect the money for a single case until you manage to cover the necessary amount or do you go with several cases in parallel?

– We go in parallel and I explain this to the parents. I seek to make a community as large as possible and we also ask for their involvement in the media coverage of the cases.

– Were you impressed, at some point, by any donation?

– I can't forget a donation that was on a knife's edge. I had a child who was from the Republic of Moldova and he drank caustic soda and burned his esophagus. He couldn't eat and urgently needed a
surgery that cost 35,000 euros. I was called by a person from Portugal and he tells me that he is a Romanian who has a company in that country and wants to donate the entire amount. I told him to be careful with the accounting documents and he told me that he would come back the next day. It was before the end of the year holidays and the day after the conversation they called me and told me that they had collected more from their own employees who wanted to donate and asked me for the donation contract. It was only a few days later that I realized when I saw the money in the account. Every donation impresses me, but in this case I was stunned.

source: Moldova Bussines