jarka lajčáková hargašová visited a summer camp for children from flooded areas

August 30, 2010 - Thanks to the companies associated in the Business Leaders Forum (BLF) and the donations from individuals, children from the towns and villages of Harichovce, Ipeľský Sokolec, Kapušany, Kendice, Kežmarok, Ľubica, Mojzesovo, Nižná Myšľa, Nová Ľubovňa, Sulín, Tvarožná and Veľká Maňa were able to go to summer camps in Vyšné Ružbachy, the Slovak Paradise (Slovenský raj) and in Horná Ves close to Partizánske. TV anchor Jarka Lajčáková Hargašová, who is also a member of the Great Country Board visited the camp in Horná Ves. 24 457,65 EUR was raised for these children’s summer camps via the Great Country donor portal. The Business Leaders Forum and the Pontis Foundation managed to gather for this purpose altogether 52 457,65 EUR from various sources.

“Despite the fact, that it is raining in Slovakia and many people are going through tough times, here the sun is shining – and not only outside but also in the souls of the children, who came here. The atmosphere is absolutely terrific, the surroundings are beautiful and from what I hear from the children they don’t want to leave this place but would prefer to stay,” says Jarka Lajčáková Hargašová after meeting children in the summer camp near Horná Ves.

According to Jarka Lajčáková Hargašová, giving children the possibility to enjoy at least a small part of their summer break in a different way and help them forget all that their parents are dealing with is priceless. “Surely, everyone remembers their summer break being the best part of the year. If summer starts in such a sad, tragic way, it is a huge trauma for the children. It is a wonderful gesture of all the companies that supported to the summer camps. I think, that if they came to visit this place, they would contribute even more money,” adds Jarka Lajčáková Hargašová.

The TV anchor Jarka Lajčáková Hargašová has been standing by the program Great country since its launch. As a member of the Great Country Board, she took part in selecting projects that were seeking the support of individual donors and trying to improve the “face” of Slovakia. In July, she also visited the Great country arena at the Pohoda festival where she hosted a debate on philanthropy with the hockey player Michal Handzuš.

After the floods in June, representatives of the Business Leaders Forum and the Pontis Foundation appealed to companies to contribute to a collection for summer camps for children from the flooded areas and also opened the collection at the Great Country portal. After that they found and reserved places for children in summer camps. Children who went to the summer camps were chosen in cooperation with the local mayors. The selection was also confirmed by other people from the given villages and towns, such as social workers or school directors.

Out of the originally enrolled 210 children, 206 of them went to the summer camps. The summer camps took place in Horná Ves close to Partizánske (12.-18.8.2010), in Vyšné Ružbachy (7.-14.8.2010 a 14.-21.8.2010) and in the Slovak Paradise (Slovenský raj) (16.-23.8.2010).

7 companies contributed to the summer camps collection by a total sum of 45 000 EUR. Citibank donated via the Community foundation Bratislava 13 000 EUR, Orange Slovensko donated via Foundation Orange 5 000 EUR, Pfizer Slovensko gave 3 000 EUR, Slovenské elektrárne – member of the Enel group donated 6 000 EUR, Stredoslovenská energetika – member of the EDF group contributed 5 000 EUR, VÚB banka donated via the VÚB Foundation 5 000 EUR and Západoslovenská energetika – member of the E.ON group gave 8 000 EUR.

Individual donors and employees of IBM Slovensko, Philip Morris Slovakia and Slovak Telekom also decided to contribute to the collection through the donor portal www.DobraKrajina.sk. They put together 7 457.65 EUR.

“Thanks to the generosity of the companies, employees and individual donors, we were able to make summer camps a reality for 206 children. The estimated cost per child was 250 EUR. This covers not only accommodation, food and program for children in the summer camps but also transportation costs to and from the camps, complete insurance for the children and pocket money that families in need could not afford. The money left over from the collection will be used to buy school utensils, which will be done in cooperation with the Catholic charity,” says Beata Hlavčáková, program director of the Pontis Foundation and executive director of the Business Leaders Forum, which organized the collection.

“The joy of the children in the summer camp and their crying when they had to leave the camp and go home is a sincere thanks to all the generous donors, helpful mayors, as well as all the travel agencies’ employees,” stated Beata Hlavčáková.