Elton John’s shoes for HIV-infected children

An unusual auction will be held in Kyiv on Feb. 22. Among the lots will be a suit and a pair of shoes belonging to the British pop star Sir Elton John (the suit was sewn personally by Gianni Versace); a T-shirt from Andriy Shevchenko, the celebrated soccer player of the Ukrainian national and Italian Milano teams; boxing gloves from Vitaly Klychko, honorary World Boxing Council champion; a racket from Ukraine’s top tennis player Andriy Medvedev; a training suit from Olympic champion in gymnastics Liliya Podkopaieva’s; and a purse designed by Serhiy Yermakov, creator of the outfit worn by Masha Yefrosinieva “Eurovision’05” winner. Also on sale will be a Contex cycling outfit, paintings (Mykhailo Hoida’s Night Queen; Viktor Pokydanets’s Africa. The Land; Valeriy Holeiko’s Dreams from the City of Childhood; O. Malykh’s Shining) as well as children’s drawings.

The auction will be held at Arena Entertainment, 2A Baseina Street. The name of the charity event is “Simply Children” and its aim is to collect money to help Ukraine’s HIV-infected children, reports www.rupor.info. This soiree promises to be a refined mixture of presentations, concerts, shows, and an opportunity to rub elbows with VIPs representing the national and world elite. Among the guests and key bidders will be people representing the Secretariat of the President of Ukraine, Cabinet of Ministers, Verkhovna Rada, Kyiv City Administration, ambassadors, heads of international missions and organizations, business people, leaders of political parties, famous athletes, actors, presidents of sports clubs, and members of Ukrainian and foreign rotary clubs. For more information concerning the auction, lots, and rules, visit www.prosto-deti.org.ua.