Saint-Etienne, France – June 23, 2010 – The Casino Foundation is initiating its first program to combat the loneliness experienced by children hospitalised through a partnership with the Children’s Hospital of Margency and the Docteur Souris Association.
The Casino Foundation, founded in 2009 at the initiative of Jean-Charles Naouri, is committed to helping counter the feelings of isolation and loneliness of hundreds of hospitalised children. In partnership with the Association Docteur Souris, founded in 2003, the Foundation will equip the paediatric wards of three hospitals with laptop computers to provide young patients with access to information technologies and communications capabilities.
The donation – which includes a hundred laptops as well as support and maintenance services – will enable the children to communicate with family and friends, receive tutoring and access electronic entertainment. This long-term program also is part of the teaching program developed by the hospital for its young patients.
The Children’s Hospital of Margency in the Val d’Oise (Ile-de-France region), an institution run by the French Red Cross, is the first site chosen by the Casino Foundation for the program’s deployment. Approximately 100 children suffering from serious illness receive care at the hospital, often remaining for months at a time. The hospital’s school, the visiting parent’s house, children’s rooms and recovery rooms will be equipped with the laptops provided by the Casino Foundation. In addition, the Foundation will provide for the training of teams in the use of software programs and weekly professional maintenance services.
In coming months, the program will be extended to the Timone-Enfants University Hospital Centre in Marseille and the paediatric units of the Saint-Etienne University Hospital Centre.
These projects are central to the Casino Foundation’s mission, which focuses the philanthropic actions of the Casino Group and its subsidiaries — in France and other countries where it operates — on the priority of helping disadvantaged children.
Jean-Charles Naouri, Casino Chairman and CEO of Groupe Casino, said: “Our intention is to offer children from the most disadvantaged backgrounds the means to acquire the knowledge and the ability to understand the world in which they live, enabling them to look ahead to their future. Through the Casino Foundation, we hope to help awaken the potential of children in need and to contribute to their development. The decision by Casino employees that the Foundation’s first action should be to support the work of Docteur Souris and the Hospital Margency speaks to our shared values of mutual support and involvement with our community.”