n the history of world football , it is rare to find a player as complete as Lionel Messi: Outstanding talent, huge fortune, happy home and loved by millions of people.
Not only is he an excellent football player, Messi is also a generous philanthropist and philanthropist. Many people joke that the striker who just won his 8th Golden Ball is a “selfish” person. He quietly does charity work, without noise or flashiness. Messi alone has contributed millions of dollars to help others.
Messi is not only a football star but also a great philanthropist.
Give without receiving 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 young children around the world who do not have adequate means to grow up”. The fund’s top priority is investing in health care 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 smiling and I feel happy.” very happy. I will continue my journey of using my abilities and dedication to help children be happier .”
In 2010, the soccer superstar became an ambassador for UNICEF, the United Nations agency that provides humanitarian aid to help children around the world. After being appointed as a goodwill ambassador, Messi went to Haiti to support children in difficulty after the people there suffered a severe earthquake.
He became a goodwill ambassador for UNICEF.
Messi visited the Carrefour Air camp, home to about 50,000 Haitians who lost their homes after 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 USD (more than 5 billion VND) to UNICEF projects in Kenya.
In 2017, the Leo Messi Foundation made a large donation to UNICEF to install 20 new classrooms in Tartous and Damascus. This allows 1,600 Syrian children affected by the war to return to school, continuing to realize their unfinished dreams.
In 2012, Messi met Waleed Kashash, a 12-year-old boy who suffered from the same developmental delay as Messi as a child and also dreamed of becoming a footballer. The Argentine striker offered to fully fund all medical bills until the boy turned 18 years old.
In 2016, the image of little boy Murtaza Ahmadi wearing a shirt made of plastic bags with Messi’s name drawn on the back caused a fever on social networks. Immediately afterwards, superstar Lionel Messi gave the Afghan boy his jersey and invited him to Qatar to attend a friendly match when this famous player still played for Barcelona.
The boy wore a balloon bag with Messi’s name and signature number 10 painted on it.
Never forget your homeland
Messi was born in the small town of Rosario, Argentina and he often donates various donations to help the local area. In 2013, Messi donated a large sum of money to renovate the hospital here. In 2020, after discovering that hospitals in the area were seriously lacking ventilators, he donated 50 devices to hospitals in the area to help them deal with the Covid-19 epidemic.
Messi moved to Spain when he was 13 years old to join Barcelona, which is like his second home. Therefore, Messi is also actively doing charity work in this country. In 2018, when Sant Joan de Deu Children’s Hospital (Spain) wanted to open a cancer treatment department for children, Messi called for sponsorship. With his influence, the soccer star has called for 27 million Euros (703 billion VND). After that, he alone contributed an additional 3 million Euro (78 billion VND) to complete the sponsorship campaign.
Messi said: “ I’m so happy to be a part of this project. I feel very honored to be a part of helping children fight the evil cancer .”
Messi is always dedicated to the community, especially children in difficult circumstances.
Also during the Covid-19 pandemic, Messi donated about 1 million Euro (26 billion VND) to the Barcelona city hospital, Spain. This amount of money has contributed to ensuring adequate medical supplies for local people, helping them receive treatment and fight diseases. And there are countless other silent acts of charity that Messi does not publicize or that few people know about.
Clearly, Messi’s humanitarian actions that come from his heart and not seeking fame and fortune are the most important reasons why he has become the top great player today. Fans love and respect him not only because of his outstanding talent but also because of this striker’s noble heart.
