NEW YORK, May 25 (RIA Novosti) - A charitable project to help children suffering from grave illnesses, "Children in Need," organized by the Russian Information Agency Novosti, was unveiled at a special ceremony in New York.
The Russian-American Cultural Heritage Center, the permanent Russian mission to the UN and RIA Novosti's New York bureau hosted Thursday the event to gather donations for one of the sick children featured on the project's Web site, Kolya Kharitonov, who suffers from a rare form of cancer requiring expensive treatment.
Russia's ambassador to the UN, Vitaly Churkin, opened the ceremony, and a charitable auction organized by the Heritage Center managed to gather several thousand dollars for Kolya's treatment.
The evening's program included traditional Russian songs and dance by a Brooklyn children's choir, a rousing solo by a leading singer with the Metropolitan Opera, Mikhail Svetlov, and an exhibition of works by young Russian and American artists organized by the Union of Russian Artists in America.
"The idea is to allow talented children help other children who suffer from illness," the union's head, Yekaterina Moskovskaya, said.
A similar exhibition was held at RIA Novosti's Washington bureau in March.
