Children play at the launch of the SOS Children's Village in Persan, France

October 18, 2011: On October 8th, a new SOS Children's Village was opened in Persan, a community in the Val-d'Oise department in Île-de-France, 18 miles north of Paris. Just one of 14 SOS Villages in France and over 540 worldwide, including three in the USA, the Persan Village will care for 39 children and siblings who could not otherwise live with their biological parents. Together, children and staff of the SOS Children's Village Persan, institutional partners, business partners and donors attended the inauguration ceremony with high spirits.

The building of the SOS Children's Village of Persan was initiated at the request of the General Council of Val d'Oise to meet a real need of high-quality, family-based alternative care for children and especially siblings. This is the mission of SOS Children's Villages: providing a stable home in an SOS family, where brothers and sisters grow up together under the protective and reliable care of an SOS parent.

Photo courtesy of SOS Children's Villages - France

Mr. Pierre Pascal, president of SOS Children's Villages France, said: "An SOS Children's Village is a place full of life. I would like to thank the donors who have enabled the realization of this great deed through their generosity and loyalty. And I would like to express our gratitude to the corporate partners who have accompanied this project, as did their employees and customers who proved a deep sense of solidarity."

Mr. Philippe Cousin, Mayor of Persan, recalled "the unanimity of the Council of the City of Persan" about the project and noted that there is a fantastic working relationship between the City and the SOS Children's Village.

Mr. Arnaud Bazin, President of the General Council of Val d'Oise (former Mayor of Persan) said to Mr. Pierre Pascal: "Thank you for having enriched the City of Persan with this heritage of solidarity, with this heritage of humanity. Thank you!"

Around the world, SOS Children’s Villages provides loving homes to children who can no longer live with their biological parents and Family Strengthening Programs to help keep families together. When you support SOS Children’s Villages through a one-time donation or child sponsorship, you are supporting the world’s largest charity dedicated to the care of orphaned and abandoned children.