CzechFolks.com

Clanek v CESTINE dole.

The Czech government has pledged 10 million crowns (~$630,000) in flood recovery for Cedar Rapids, Iowa. In the next month or two, the US Czech and Slovak Museum will be able to use this gift to repair damages to the building and its contents from the floods in June 2008. The total damage to the museum’s five properties in Czech Village is about $9 million but the gift is a wonderful gesture of support and solidarity that proves that Czechs in USA are still connected with their home country.

Gail Naughton, the museum’s director, visited Czech Republic to discuss the terms of the gift. She also talked to the Slovak government about a possible gift following the flood. Here in the U.S.A. she invited Jaroslav Kurfurst, Deputy Chief of Mission for the Embassy of the Czech Republic, to tour the National Czech & Slovak Museum and Library, Sokol Hall and other areas damaged by the flood.

Kurfurst recognized parallels between the devastation in Cedar Rapids and flooding in the Czech Republic in 2002. Frank Edmunds, president of Sokol, and his wife Barbara, showed Kurfurst the basement of the downtown hall that was completely filled with black muck from the river. Floodwaters rose 4 feet into the mail level of gymnasium and up to 10 feet of water flooded into the museum. The immigrant home next door, which sees about 30,000 visitors annually, was under water for four whole days.

The flood has caused many damages to the property of Czech Village but it did not damage hopes of Czechs in Cedar Rapids to rebuild their town. It is nice to see that Czechs in Iowa have still so much strength and pride in their heritage after the horrible disaster and that Czech government is still very much connected with them as well.

If you would also like make a small contribution, please CLICK HERE to make a secure donation through Groundspring.org.

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Ceska vlada prislibila 10 milionu kurun (coz je okolo 630.000 USD) na regeneraci Cedar Rapids, Iowa. Americke muzeum Cechu a Slovaku bude moci pouzit finance z tohoto daru na opravy skod ze zaplavy v cervnu 2008. Penize budou dostupne v pristich mesicich a budou pouzity na napravu budovy a jeji obsah. Celkova skoda Ceske vesnici je okolo 9 milionu dolaru, ale tento dar je nadnernym gestem ktery prokazuje podporu a solidaritu a potvrzuje, ze Cesi v USA jsou stale spojeni s jejich domovem.

Gail Naughtonova, reditelka musea, navstivila Ceskou republiku aby mohla prodiskutovat okolnosti tohoto daru. Take hovorila se slovenskou vladou o jejich eventualnim daru. Zde, v USA, Naughtonova pozvala Jaroslav Kurfursta, ceskeho velvyslance v USA, na turu muzea, knihovny, Sokola a dalsich oblasti znicenych zaplavou.

Kurfurst rozpoznal spojeni teto zaplavy v Cedar Rapids s ceskou zaplavou v roce 2002. Frank Edmunds, president Sokola, a jeho zena Barbara, ukazali Kurfurstovi sklep mestskeho spolkoveho domu, ktery byl zcela zaplnen cernym blatem z reky. Voda v hlavni telocvicne stoupla do 4 stop (1.2 metru) a az 10 stop (3 metry) v muzeu. Budova imigrantu hned vedle, kterou navstevuje 30.000 navstevniku v roce, byla pod vodou cele 4 dny.

Zaplava zpusobila skody na vlastnictvi Ceske vesnice, ale neznicila nadeji a viru Cechu v Cedar Rapids v rekonstrukci jejich mesta. Je to hezke, ze Cesi v Iowe maji stale tolik sily a narodni hrdosti po takove hrozne pohrome, a take ze ceska vlada je stale s nimi spojena.

Pokud mate zajem darovat malou castku pres bezpecnou stranku na Groundspring.org, KLIKNETE ZDE.