The Fiți Buni Association
Its years
Year by year, from 2026 back to 2020: the campaigns, the association’s milestones and what the press wrote.
2026
5 campaigns · 20 pieces in the press
Back to the yearsMilestones
- At Easter, food parcels for 50 old people living alone.
- In January, the “Împreună dăruim căldură!” (Together we give warmth) campaign: straw briquettes for heating, for old people living alone, widows and orphans, people with disabilities and large families in Olt County.
Campaigns
- Vreau și eu la mare!
The 11th edition
Six days and five nights for children from Olt and Dolj, with a hotel, meals at a restaurant, transport on the association’s coach, a private beach and a pool. Each child gets a welcome pack: a personalised T-shirt, a backpack, a folding beach mat and a water flask.
- For Caracal Municipal Hospital
In May, 8 new libraries, with donated books, in the Municipal Hospital and the Polyclinic in Caracal; nine more were needed to reach every ward. Nappies and wet wipes for Neonatology, in January and in the summer.
Result: 8 libraries.
- Homes for families in need
The Fiți Buni Association answered a mother’s appeal: a new bathroom, so that her little girl, who had beaten leukaemia, could come home before school started. Floor and wall tiles, sanitary fittings, a water heater and an electric radiator were asked for.
- Vidin and the Timok Valley
In January, parcels of sweets, cosmetics and hygiene products for children up to eight in kindergartens and schools in the Vidin region and for the old people of a care home in the Bregovo municipality, given by the association together with the Romanian Cultural Centre in Vidin. The association’s president, Nicoleta Iagăru, and Father Ion were there.
Result: 160 parcels.
- Depistează la timp! Auzul tău merită grijă!
The third edition, in January, at the Osica de Sus II parish; the fourth, in February, at Brastavățu; the eighth, on 16 May, at the Saint Nicholas parish in Pârșcoveni; the tenth, in June, at the Saint Demetrius and Saint Stephen the Archdeacon parish in Cezieni. In September a new group of beneficiaries received their hearing aids at Audionova Craiova.
Result: By September 2026: hundreds of people tested and evaluated; dozens received hearing aids.
In the press
20 pieces in 2026. A few of them:
2025
7 campaigns · 15 pieces in the press
Back to the yearsMilestones
- Two grants won in the Pepcolandia 2025 programme of Pepco Romania and the pastel Association; one of the projects was the “Pedalăm în siguranță!” camp.
- In April, more than 23,000 medical masks given to Caracal Municipal Hospital, as a partner of the Craiova Food Bank.
Campaigns
- Zâmbește! Familia (noastră) te iubește!
“Fii alături de copiii internați în spitale, în perioada Sărbătorilor de Iarnă!” (Be with the children in hospital over the winter holidays!)
Father Ion and the Fiți Buni Association prepared gifts for the children in the paediatric wards of six hospitals in three counties: Caracal, Balș and Corabia (Olt), Roșiorii de Vede (Teleorman), Băilești and Calafat (Dolj). The personalised bags were picked up at the wooden church in the hospital courtyard, and the gifts were also to reach hundreds of children from poor families and from the villages of the Vlachs of the Bulgarian Timok.
- Vreau și eu la mare!
The 10th edition
From 31 August to 4 September, in Eforie Nord, at the Mondial and Cristal hotels: Aqua Park Eforie Nord, Imaginaria Space, the Espinol Circus and a stop at Saint Mary’s Monastery in Techirghiol. Part of the lodging was covered by the Pepcolandia 2025 programme of Pepco Romania and the pastel Association.
Result: 26 children who had never seen the sea.
- Desculț am fost și m-ați încălțat!
With the support of the Strong Women’s Club, through the volunteers of the Fiți Buni Association.
Result: New boots for 100 children from disadvantaged backgrounds.
- For Caracal Municipal Hospital
On 4 February Father Ion paid the deposit for 30 refrigerators for the hospital’s wards — “the biggest and most ambitious donation”, in his words — and began raising the rest. Through the Fiți Buni Association’s partnership with the Craiova Food Bank, the hospital received more than 23,000 medical masks in April and more than 16,000 in September.
Result: More than 23,000 and more than 16,000 medical masks.
- Vidin and the Timok Valley
In January, parcels of sweets, toothbrushes and toothpaste, notebooks and pens for the children in the children’s ward of the Vidin hospital, at the Tsvyat community centre and in the villages of Major Uzunovo, Kapitanovtsi and Negovanovtsi.
- Depistează la timp! Auzul tău merită grijă!
The 1st edition
On 22 November 2025, at the Slătioara I parish.
Result: Dozens of people tested.
- Pedalăm în siguranță!
From 20 to 23 July, around Ponoarele (Mehedinți), for children with hearing loss fitted with hearing aids by the association with Audionova; the camp’s announcement spoke of 6 children.
In the press
15 pieces in 2025. A few of them:
All the pieces from 20252024
3 campaigns · 13 pieces in the press
Back to the yearsMilestones
- In December, the association’s volunteers at the National Food Collection, in the shops of Caracal, as partners of the Regional Food Bank in Craiova.
Campaigns
- Vreau și eu la mare!
The 9th edition
From 1 to 6 September. Among the children were children with hearing loss; two of them received hearing aids.
- Mărțișorul speranței
Mărțișor tickets at 10 lei, as winning lottery tickets: each brought a coffee, a slice of pizza or a pastry from three Caracal businesses, between 1 and 8 March. The money, raised with the Fiți Buni Association, went on televisions for the hospital’s wards.
Result: 10 televisions for 10 wards of Caracal Municipal Hospital.
- For Caracal Municipal Hospital
On 11 January, 18 televisions for the Paediatrics, ENT and Pneumology wards; for the first time, the paediatric wards had televisions. The campaign went on with “Mărțișorul speranței”. Nappies for the newborns of five hospitals, among them the Neonatology ward of Băilești Town Hospital.
Result: 40 televisions and 40 wall mounts, donated from the start of the year to September.
In the press
13 pieces in 2024. A few of them:
- Preotul Ion Iagăru din Caracal, o nouă campanie umanitară (opens in a new tab)
Gazeta Publică
in Romanian - Televizoare noi, donate secțiilor Spitalului Municipal Caracal (opens in a new tab)
Jurnalul Olteniei
in Romanian - Alți copii care văd pentru prima dată marea, duși în tabără de preotul caracalean Iagăru (opens in a new tab)
Realitatea Oltului
in Romanian
2023
5 campaigns · 9 pieces in the press
Back to the yearsCampaigns
- Zâmbește! Familia (noastră) te iubește!
The 10th edition
At the end of November, Father Ion and the Fiți Buni Association began the collection, and the gifts were to be handed out around Christmas. On the second day of Christmas the trip to the Romanians of Bulgaria was planned: to the Romanian Cultural Centre in Vidin, to a kindergarten in the Romanian quarter and to several villages around Vidin.
- Vreau și eu la mare!
Children from poor families in Romania went to the sea free of charge and, this year, children from Bulgaria, from the Timok Valley, too.
- Desculț am fost și m-ați încălțat!
A special edition
For the first time, boots for the elderly: 80 pairs of warm boots for elderly people and people with disabilities from Caracal and the places nearby, each with a basket of Christmas gifts, in December. The deposit for the 80 pairs was paid in November.
- Vidin and the Timok Valley
In early January, hundreds of parcels of sweets for the children’s ward of the Vidin hospital, kindergartens and community centres. On 24 January, the Day of Romanian Culture, a delegation of the association, led by its president, was in Vidin; Nicoleta Iagăru’s painting exhibition was for charity, for the children of the Vidin region. In the last days of December the association’s representatives handed out Christmas gifts in Belogradchik, at the Iglika kindergarten and in the town square.
- Să îmbrăcăm un copil de Paști!
For Saturday 8 April, Father Ion announced a minibus full of children going shopping.
In the press
9 pieces in 2023. A few of them:
- Румънска асоциация дари стотици пакети за деца във Видинско (opens in a new tab)
БНР – Радио Видин
Radioin Bulgarian
- Zâmbește! Familia (noastră) te iubește!
2022
5 campaigns · 18 pieces in the press
Back to the yearsMilestones
- The soldiers of the Portuguese contingent on mission in Romania, at the association in Caracal: food and a television for a family in need in June, then 145 sets of sports kit, footballs and school supplies for children and young people.
- In October, on the International Day of Older Persons, gift cards for the old people who came to the service, from the hospital’s wooden church and the association.
- At the end of February, nappies for mothers from Ukraine, together with the Diocese of Slatina and Romanați and the Olt County School Inspectorate.
- The “Solidari cu copiii surzi” (In solidarity with deaf children) project: the association sets out to pay for the ear moulds of hearing aids for children up to 16 who are social cases, for the batteries and for the journey to the fitting centre.
Campaigns
- Vreau și eu la mare!
The 7th edition
For the first time, children with hearing loss were invited too.
- Mărțișorul speranței
The 8th edition
From 20 February to 8 March: handmade mărțișoare and decorative objects — photo frames, paintings, candle holders, scented candles, soaps, flower arrangements — sold at the church and through the volunteers of the Fiți Buni Association. The money was for hearing aids for deaf children.
- Desculț am fost și m-ați încălțat!
An edition for hard-of-hearing and deaf children: the aim was new boots for about 10% of the hard-of-hearing and deaf children in Romania, more than 150 children. The campaign ran until mid-December, with the support of the Media10 newspaper.
- For Caracal Municipal Hospital
On 12 September the association’s representatives bought, with Audionova’s financial support, the nappies and wet wipes the Neonatology ward’s newborns needed for September.
- Să îmbrăcăm un copil de Paști!
On 17 April, children from Olt, Gorj and Teleorman chose new clothes for the Resurrection service, and on the same day went to a restaurant for the first time. The aim rose from 20 to 30 children as the donations came in.
Result: 30 children.
In the press
2021
6 campaigns · 15 pieces in the press
Back to the yearsMilestones
- Energy-saving light bulbs for more than 150 families in need, bought through the association.
- Food, hygiene and household goods for the leprosy patients of Tichilești Hospital, given by the people of Caracal through the association.
Campaigns
- Zâmbește! Familia (noastră) te iubește!
The 8th edition
From 28 November to 20 December. The gifts were packed into boxes by the association’s members, following the health rules; donations could also be made to the Fiți Buni Association’s account.
- Vreau și eu la mare!
Children from Pârșcoveni, Vlădila, Drăghiceni, Reșca, Deveselu and Caracal left for the coast by coach in September; generous believers gave them the camp free of charge, through the parish of the church of Caracal Municipal Hospital.
Result: 28 children saw the sea for the first time.
- Desculț am fost și m-ați încălțat!
From 1 to 30 November, for 75 children — 37 girls and 38 boys — with the list of sizes published by Father Ion.
- For Caracal Municipal Hospital
In December, a professional vegetable-cutting machine for the hospital kitchen.
- Homes for families in need
On 6 April Father Ion set out to move the family from Sprâncenata, whose mud-brick house was about to collapse, into a new home by Easter; two weeks later, through the Fiți Buni Association, the house was bought. In December, the campaign to renovate the house in Pârșcoveni where a schoolgirl is raising her five brothers and sisters had raised 32,730 lei, 54.5% of the sum needed.
Result: A house bought for a family of five, in Sprâncenata.
- Să îmbrăcăm un copil de Paști!
A minibus with 20 children went to the Electroputere Mall in Craiova; the children chose new clothes and shoes, and each was given a ball.
Result: 20 children.
In the press
15 pieces in 2021. A few of them:
All the pieces from 20212020
6 campaigns · 12 pieces in the press
Back to the yearsMilestones
- The Fiți Buni Association is entered in Romania’s national register of NGOs, under number 26954/A/2020, with its registered seat in Caracal.
Campaigns
- Zâmbește! Familia (noastră) te iubește!
The 7th edition
It began at the end of November. Because of the pandemic, to protect the children and their families, the boxes were assembled and filled with gifts by the members of the Fiți Buni Association. The collection deadline: 20 December 2020.
- Mărțișorul speranței
The 6th edition
In February, 600 mărțișoare made by children, parents and grandparents around Vidin — Vidin, Kutovo, Kapitanovtsi, Major Uzunovo, Dunavtsi and Vrav — were sold in Caracal, and the money went back to Vidin, through the Romanian Cultural Centre in Vidin.
Result: 2,500 leva: 12 inhalers and two contactless thermometers for the children’s ward of the Sveta Petka hospital in Vidin.
- For Caracal Municipal Hospital
In August, nappies for the newborns in Neonatology whose mothers have little means; the company AGRISO joined in.
Result: 500 nappies.
- Homes for families in need
In March, within three days, a well was drilled in the yard of a family in need in Caracal, and Father Ion set out to give them a new house too. At the same time, for a mother and her seriously ill daughter, a donated studio flat, which he was to paint, furnish and fit with appliances.
- Vidin and the Timok Valley
From the money of the “Mărțișorul speranței” fair, 12 inhalers and two contactless thermometers for the children’s ward of the Vidin hospital. In April, during the pandemic, reusable protective masks from Caracal, on Father Ion’s initiative: 250 for Vidin town hall, the rest for organisations and institutions.
- Să îmbrăcăm un copil de Paști!
“Îmbracă un copil de Sărbători” (Dress a child for the holidays)
The campaign carried on during the pandemic, for children from Caracal and the neighbouring communes.
Result: About 40 children received new clothes and sports shoes.
In the press
12 pieces in 2020. A few of them:
- 300 предпазни маски дари Румънският културен център във Видин (opens in a new tab)
БНР – Радио Видин
Radioin Bulgarian