Humanitarian aid for Northern Kosovo
Spende geschützt
My name is Djordje Popovic, and I am a medical device engineer from San Diego. My family and I are parishioners of the St. George Serbian Orthodox Church. Together with our church, I am soliciting donations and gifts for purchase of medical supplies for the Clinical Center in Kosovska Mitrovica. We are welcoming all donations - there is no amount too small. However, if you are considering a large donation that you want to claim on your tax return, please read our tax implication section below.
BENEFICIARY: The Clinical Center in Kosovska Mitrovica is the largest healthcare provider in Northern Kosovo, and a pillar of healthcare in all Serbian communities in the province.
HOW WILL THE FUNDS BE SPENT? The donations received through GoFundMe will be given to St. George, and added to the money donated directly to the church for this cause. The combined funds will be used to purchase medical supplies for the Center, such as infusion solutions, oxygen tanks, antibiotics and anti-cancer drugs. As the availability of various medical supplies in the Center will be changing in the course of this campaign, the exact list of supplies to purchase will be determined in collaboration with the Center at the point when the fundraiser is about to end. The ultimate list will be published as an update to the campaign page. Purchased supplies will be delivered to the Center as humanitarian aid. We are in touch, and will work with, the Center's director, Dr. Milan Ivanović, to ensure the aid reaches its destination timely. If needed, we will rely on assistance of the local US embassy.
WHY THIS AND WHY NOW? On the 21st of November 2018, the self-proclaimed government of Kosovo imposed 100% tariffs on all goods from Serbia. This has cut off the supply chains of Serbian healthcare institutions in the province. Despite the protests by the European Union, regional trade associations, and even the US Secretary of State, Michael Pompeo, the Albanian leaders seem resolute to stand by their decision. For now, the Serbian healthcare institutions are running on existing supplies, but those will eventually run out. That's why we - American Serbs and all other people of good heart - need to take an action.
WHAT IS THE BROADER CONTEXT? Kosovska Mitrovica lies in the northern part of Kosovo, a Serbian province populated mostly by ethnic Albanians that has been under the UN administration since the NATO bombing campaign in 1999. In the past two decades the province witnessed two mass expulsions of its Serbian and other non-Albanian inhabitants (in 1999 and 2004), an illegal and widely disputed proclamation of independence (in 2008), and numerous individual acts of violence against local Serbs, and their religious and cultural institutions. As a result, the Serbian community has been reduced from about 400,000 (in 1998) to about 100,000 people grouped in a few areas in the province. The conditions in which most Serbs in Kosovo live nowadays are grim, in part due to the hostile Albanian majority and in part because of the economic underdevelopment that plagues the entire region.
WHY ARE MEDICAL SUPPLIES TARGETED? The self-proclaimed government could have imposed tariffs on various imports but made an exception for medical supplies. The likely reason they did not do so is that social and healthcare services to Serbian communities in Kosovo are provided and funded by the Serbian central government. This means these institutions adhere to the official governmental policy and do not treat Kosovo as a sovereign state. This position has made them a target of the self-proclaimed Albanian government in Kosovo.
IS MY DONATION TAX-DEDUCTIBLE? Neither GoFundMe nor I personally will be in a position to issue certificates of your donations. Generally, this will make no difference to you as long as you (1) claim standard deduction on your tax returns, and/or (2) do not plan to contribute an amount sufficiently large to make it advantageous for you to claim it within itemized deductions on your tax return. If in doubt, please consult with a tax advisor.
If you typically claim itemized deductions on your tax return, and you plan to make a substantial donation, please donate directly to Saint George Serbian Orthodox Church in San Diego but make a note your donation is for this specific cause. To do so:
1. Go to the web page of our church: St. George SOC
2. Click on the "Donate Now" button in the lower right portion of the page. You will be taken to a PayPal site. You may donate using a debit or credit card, or from your PayPal account.
3. Make a note "For Clinical Center in Kosovska Mitrovica" under "Add special instructions to the Seller". Alternatively, please email me (popovic AT usc.edu) after you've made a donation. Without this note or an email we cannot determine that you donated in support of this specific cause
If you prefer so, you may also mail checks to:
St. George Serbian Orthodox Church
3025 Denver Street
San Diego, CA 92117
Please make them payable to "St. George Serbian Orthodox Church", and please make a note "For CC Kosovska Mitrovica / Za KC Kosovska Mitrovica" on the checks.
ASSOCIATED MEDIA CONTENT
Facebook page of the campaign: ISupportKosovSerbs
YouTube pledge: https://youtu.be/R9H0UgdkGK4
BENEFICIARY: The Clinical Center in Kosovska Mitrovica is the largest healthcare provider in Northern Kosovo, and a pillar of healthcare in all Serbian communities in the province.
HOW WILL THE FUNDS BE SPENT? The donations received through GoFundMe will be given to St. George, and added to the money donated directly to the church for this cause. The combined funds will be used to purchase medical supplies for the Center, such as infusion solutions, oxygen tanks, antibiotics and anti-cancer drugs. As the availability of various medical supplies in the Center will be changing in the course of this campaign, the exact list of supplies to purchase will be determined in collaboration with the Center at the point when the fundraiser is about to end. The ultimate list will be published as an update to the campaign page. Purchased supplies will be delivered to the Center as humanitarian aid. We are in touch, and will work with, the Center's director, Dr. Milan Ivanović, to ensure the aid reaches its destination timely. If needed, we will rely on assistance of the local US embassy.
WHY THIS AND WHY NOW? On the 21st of November 2018, the self-proclaimed government of Kosovo imposed 100% tariffs on all goods from Serbia. This has cut off the supply chains of Serbian healthcare institutions in the province. Despite the protests by the European Union, regional trade associations, and even the US Secretary of State, Michael Pompeo, the Albanian leaders seem resolute to stand by their decision. For now, the Serbian healthcare institutions are running on existing supplies, but those will eventually run out. That's why we - American Serbs and all other people of good heart - need to take an action.
WHAT IS THE BROADER CONTEXT? Kosovska Mitrovica lies in the northern part of Kosovo, a Serbian province populated mostly by ethnic Albanians that has been under the UN administration since the NATO bombing campaign in 1999. In the past two decades the province witnessed two mass expulsions of its Serbian and other non-Albanian inhabitants (in 1999 and 2004), an illegal and widely disputed proclamation of independence (in 2008), and numerous individual acts of violence against local Serbs, and their religious and cultural institutions. As a result, the Serbian community has been reduced from about 400,000 (in 1998) to about 100,000 people grouped in a few areas in the province. The conditions in which most Serbs in Kosovo live nowadays are grim, in part due to the hostile Albanian majority and in part because of the economic underdevelopment that plagues the entire region.
WHY ARE MEDICAL SUPPLIES TARGETED? The self-proclaimed government could have imposed tariffs on various imports but made an exception for medical supplies. The likely reason they did not do so is that social and healthcare services to Serbian communities in Kosovo are provided and funded by the Serbian central government. This means these institutions adhere to the official governmental policy and do not treat Kosovo as a sovereign state. This position has made them a target of the self-proclaimed Albanian government in Kosovo.
IS MY DONATION TAX-DEDUCTIBLE? Neither GoFundMe nor I personally will be in a position to issue certificates of your donations. Generally, this will make no difference to you as long as you (1) claim standard deduction on your tax returns, and/or (2) do not plan to contribute an amount sufficiently large to make it advantageous for you to claim it within itemized deductions on your tax return. If in doubt, please consult with a tax advisor.
If you typically claim itemized deductions on your tax return, and you plan to make a substantial donation, please donate directly to Saint George Serbian Orthodox Church in San Diego but make a note your donation is for this specific cause. To do so:
1. Go to the web page of our church: St. George SOC
2. Click on the "Donate Now" button in the lower right portion of the page. You will be taken to a PayPal site. You may donate using a debit or credit card, or from your PayPal account.
3. Make a note "For Clinical Center in Kosovska Mitrovica" under "Add special instructions to the Seller". Alternatively, please email me (popovic AT usc.edu) after you've made a donation. Without this note or an email we cannot determine that you donated in support of this specific cause
If you prefer so, you may also mail checks to:
St. George Serbian Orthodox Church
3025 Denver Street
San Diego, CA 92117
Please make them payable to "St. George Serbian Orthodox Church", and please make a note "For CC Kosovska Mitrovica / Za KC Kosovska Mitrovica" on the checks.
ASSOCIATED MEDIA CONTENT
Facebook page of the campaign: ISupportKosovSerbs
YouTube pledge: https://youtu.be/R9H0UgdkGK4
Organisator und Spendenbegünstigter
Djordje Popovic
Organisator
San Diego, CA
Milos Belcevich
Spendenbegünstigte