A total of ISK 113 million (USD 900,000, EUR 570,000) was collected in a charity initiative for the Landspítali hospital’s Grensás rehabilitation center in Reykjavík on Friday, which will be used for improving the center’s training facilities.
Edda Heidrún Backman. Photo by Páll Stefánsson.
“I’m satisfied with my people, my nation. The reactions were incredible, which show that people are good on the inside,” actress Edda Heidrún Backman, who organized the initiative, told Morgunbladid.
Backman, who is struggling with MND, is one of many Icelanders who have sought rehabilitation at Grensás and been dissatisfied with the imperfect facilities there.
She therefore decided to launch a charity initiative with the goal of collecting ISK 500 million (USD 4 million, EUR 2.5 million). The actress describes Friday’s achievement as a good milestone.
“There is no crisis tonight,” Backman commented on Friday, when national broadcaster RÚV dedicated its program to the initiative. “We all know that diseases can happen to everyone and therefore it is important to support Grensás and the good work that is undertaken there. Developing the center must be prioritized.”
Backman said she was touched by both the support shown by the Icelandic public and the artists who contributed to the charity program.
There is an interview with Backman in the current issue of the print edition of Iceland Review.
