Who are we?

On November 15, 1995 pediatrician Diederik van Heemstra and Nico de Borst founded Foundation Breath. Nico de Borst ran several marathons in the shirt of his favourite football club Sparta Rotterdam. That brought so much positive publicity that he decided to raise money for charity along with it. De Borst and Van Heemstra decided to join forces to help the vulnerable children they met on their travels through Eastern Europe. They chose the international name 'Breath' (air) because for the marathon 'breath' was needed and they want to give the children in need some extra ‘air’.

Breath Romania

On February 19, 2001, Breath founded the Romanian sister foundation Fundatia Breath Romania. On the board are four Dutch and three Romanians. This Dutch majority creates a sound organizational structure and also provides various tax options.

Breath Ukraine

After the Netherlands and Romania we founded Breath Ukraine on July 18, 2006. We used the same construction as Breath Romania. The board consists of Alexander Dreval, Nikolai Kuleba, Oleg Ovechko, Michael Poolman, Evgeny Levchenko, Bon Jongste and Nico de Borst.

Breath Georgia

On July 13, 2007 saw Breath Georgia founded in Georgia. The board consists of Ana Chachkunashvili, Michael Poolman and Nico de Borst. The former First Lady of Georgia, Sandra Roelofs, her father Eduard Roelofs and the Georgian topfootball player and Minister of Energy, Kakha Kaladze support our foundation..