CHF director Marić and CFU national vice president Bertović exchanged gifts, with Bertović offering his congratulations on the occasion of the CHF’s seventieth birthday. The meeting was covered by the Moja Hrvatska online media portal.
In spite of the pandemic fears the Croatian Heritage Foundation has celebrated its seventieth birthday both online and at in-person events, including many round table discussions, conferences and meetings with people from our diaspora.
This week saw a gala concert at Zagreb’s national theatre house to formally mark the occasion, with the Croatian President and other officials on hand. On 18 June CHF director Mijo Marić met at our headquarters with Franjo Bertović, the visiting national vice president for member services of the Croatian Fraternal Union of America, with which the CHF has enjoyed many years of fruitful friendship and collaboration.
Bertović passed on the sincere congratulations of the Croatian Fraternal Union—itself a symbol of the strong affection among our people for the ancestral homeland—on the seventieth year of the CHF’s effort and enthusiasm in working with Croatians abroad, building bridges between our people wherever they live.
Marić and Bertović exchanged gifts and there was a warm exchange of greetings. The meeting was covered by the Moja Hrvatska online media portal.
The Croatian Fraternal Union is a robust fraternal benefit society, insurer and non-profit association of Croatians in America and Canada. Founded in 1894, it is also a major cultural, humanitarian and patriotic organisation, with a massive volunteer network and robust assets.
The current leadership of what is the oldest Croatian diaspora organisation has created a financial powerhouse proud of its philanthropic work. The Croatian Fraternal Union’s humanitarian efforts are also robust, including the most recent assistance provided towards the earthquake recovery effort in central Croatia.
The CFU Scholarship Foundation is the premier education programme in our diaspora, with its success derived from the investment into the education of young people.
The Croatian Heritage Foundation has enjoyed excellent collaboration with the Croatian Fraternal Union since its inception, developing very high-quality language, culture, folklore and humanitarian projects over the decades. The high points of this collaboration are the junior folklore festivals that gather American and Canadian Croatians in the ancestral homeland every four years and which we all hope to see continue in the future, with CFU national vice president Bertović noting that the upcoming event is currently slated for 2024 in Zagreb. (dšš)
Photography by: Ljerka Galic