In the history of world football , there are few players as complete as Lionel Messi: Outstanding talent, huge fortune, happy family and loved by millions of people.
Not only is Messi an excellent football player, he is also a generous philanthropist and charity worker. Many people joke that the striker who just won the 8th Ballon d’Or is a “selfish” person. He does charity work quietly, without noise or flashiness. Messi alone has donated millions of dollars to help others.
Messi is not only a football star but also a great philanthropist.
Give without expecting anything in return
In 2007, Messi founded the Leo Messi Foundation, a non-profit organization with the mission of “protecting the health and safety of children around the world who do not have the resources to grow up.” The foundation’s top priority is investing in healthcare services to improve the lives of children.
Lionel Messi confided: ” I have achieved my dream of becoming a football player. I want to use my success to help other children. Every day I see a child smile, I feel very happy. I will continue my journey to use my ability and dedication to help children be happier .”
In 2010, the soccer superstar became a goodwill ambassador for UNICEF, the United Nations agency that provides humanitarian aid to children around the world. After being appointed as a goodwill ambassador, Messi traveled to Haiti to support children in need after the country suffered a devastating earthquake.
He became a UNICEF goodwill ambassador.
Messi visited the Carrefour Air camp, home to some 50,000 Haitians left homeless by the earthquake. He spent time with families and children in the camp as well as with UNICEF staff. In 2019, the Leo Messi Foundation donated $218,000 to UNICEF projects in Kenya.
In 2017, the Leo Messi Foundation made a major donation to UNICEF to install 20 new classrooms in Tartous and Damascus. This allowed 1,600 Syrian children affected by the war to return to school and continue to fulfill their unfinished dreams.
In 2012, Messi met Waleed Kashash, a 12-year-old boy who had the same developmental delay as Messi as a child and also dreamed of becoming a footballer. The Argentine striker offered to pay all of the boy’s medical bills until he turned 18.
In 2016, the image of a young boy named Murtaza Ahmadi wearing a shirt made from a plastic bag with Messi’s name painted on the back caused a stir on social media. Soon after, superstar Lionel Messi sent the Afghan boy his own shirt and invited him to Qatar to attend a friendly match when he was playing for Barcelona.
The boy was wearing a football bag with Messi’s name and signature number 10 painted on it.
Never forget home
Messi was born in the small town of Rosario, Argentina, and he often donates various amounts of money to help the local community. In 2013, Messi donated a large sum of money to renovate the hospital there. In 2020, after discovering that hospitals in the area were in dire need of ventilators, he donated 50 of the devices to hospitals in the area to help them deal with the Covid-19 pandemic.
Messi moved to Spain when he was 13 to join Barcelona, which is like his second home. Therefore, Messi is also active in charity work in this country. In 2018, when the Sant Joan de Deu Children’s Hospital (Spain) wanted to open a cancer treatment department for children, Messi stood up to call for sponsorship. With his influence, the football star raised 27 million Euros (703 billion VND). After that, he alone contributed another 3 million Euros (78 billion VND) to complete the sponsorship campaign.
Messi said: ” It’s a pleasure to be part of this project. I feel very honored to be able to contribute to helping children fight against this terrible disease .”
Messi always devotes himself to the community, especially children in difficult circumstances.
Also during the Covid-19 pandemic, Messi donated about 1 million Euros (26 billion VND) to the hospital in Barcelona, Spain. This amount of money has contributed to ensuring adequate medical supplies for local people, helping them to be treated and fight diseases. And there are countless other silent charitable acts that Messi does not publicize or few people know about.
Obviously, Messi’s humanitarian actions come from his heart, not seeking fame or fortune, which is the most important reason that helps him become the greatest player today. Fans love and respect him not only because of his outstanding talent but also because of his noble heart.
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