This Season of Giving, think of all the innovative ways you can use to fundraise and contribute to your favorite non-profit organization. Noelle and Luka Bjelic from Switzerland decided to donate their birthday to the Novak Djokovic Foundation earlier this year. This is their story.
– What inspired you to donate your wedding to the Novak Djokovic Foundation and its mission of enhancing early childhood development and education conditions in Serbia?
Luka is originally from Serbia (Zemun) and has always had a close connection to his second home. Therefore, it was not difficult for us to decide which organisation we would like to choose. We think it is very important to help children and teenagers in terms of education and to contribute to their development. Moreover, Luka is a big Novak Djokovic fan.
- Can you share a bit about your journey with NDF prior to the wedding donation?
We support the reasonable and down-to-earth ideology of Novak Djokovic and his team and find it outstanding how committed he is to the development of children and teenagers.
- How did your friends and family react to your decision to donate your wedding?
Of course, they were excited but not surprised due to Luka’s origin and his passion for sports.
- Walk us through the process of planning a wedding with a philanthropic twist.
As we got engaged in 2021, we had quite a lot of time to prepare for our special day. Nevertheless, it was a lot to organize and coordinate as we always dreamed of a big wedding with all our friends and family. We got a lot of support from the most amazing people and we can really say that it was the most mesmerizing day in our lives.
- What were some of the most memorable moments from your wedding day?
“To see my wife in her wedding dress walking down the aisle with her father was the most touching part of the day for me”, says Luka.
Our wedding day would never have been so beautiful without all the friends and family who celebrated our love with us. We will never forget all the smiles, tears and laughter and we danced until dawn.
- How do you envision your contribution impacting early childhood education conditions in the long run?
We hope we can make a small change with our contribution and that more people get aware that not every child has the same privilege on this planet to get education.
- What message would you like to convey to other couples considering alternative ways to celebrate their love?
We think that love should be shared, especially with those that need it the most. We pray for the people in the world who cannot celebrate like we do.
Dear Noelle and Luka, everyone at the Novak Djokovic Foundation thanks you from the bottom of our hearts. We wish you a blissful future together and hope your story inspire others to spread love and good deeds.
