The Serbian Philanthropy Forum, with Hemofarm Foundation as its member, marked the National Day of Giving yesterday by paying a visit to the Belgrade school ‘Boško Buha’ attended by 83 developmentally challenged pupils, thus reminding the public why it is important for each one of us to be a good person and do good things.
This year, the National Day of Giving has been dedicated to the improvement of elementary school education, and the funds have been raised through the ‘School of Good People’ for purchasing bee bot robots, interactive boards, projectors and computers for more than 60 schools in 30 municipalities across Serbia.
The Director of Hemofarm Foundation and Chairlady of the Management Board of the Serbian Philanthropy Forum, Suzana Đorđević said: ‘More than 7.5 million dinars have been raised for improvement of elementary school education in Serbia to date, and Hemofarm Foundation has joined in by donating funds for the ‘Battle for Knowledge’ project of the B92 Fund and their ‘Little Bees’ initiative, aimed at procuring modern teaching aids for all schools for children with disabilities’.
Bee bot robots in the elementary school ‘Boško Buha’
The marking of the second National Day of Giving in the elementary school ‘Boško Buha’ was attended by the Prime Minister of Serbia, Ana Brnabić, who heads the Serbian Philanthropy Forum, the Minister of Education, Mladen Šarčević, the representatives of USAID and the Coalition for Giving, with the Serbian Philanthropy Forum as its member.
The Prime Minister Ana Brnabić extended her appreciation to the Government’s Philanthropy Council and the Coalition for Giving – the coalition of the NGOs and the companies dedicated to philanthropy and giving, saying that the National Day of Giving is exceptionally important for the promotion of philanthropy in Serbia, and that the Government of Serbia, she heads, cannot do everything on its own.
‘You can be a good IT developer, you can be an excellent driver, a fantastic welder, you can be an amazing politician, or a financial expert, but the most important thing is that you are a good person, because only good people will create good country and a better society for us all’, the Prime Minister pointed out.
Ana Brnabić, Prime Minister, with the representatives of USAID and the Coalition for Giving
Minister Mladen Šarčević said: ‘The investments in educational system were significantly increased over the course of the last three years and the educational system in Serbia has underwent a strong development in a short period of time’, while the USAID representative, Kimberly Rose pointed out that the investments in education were the investments in the future of Serbia.
The National Day of Giving is an opportunity for us to extend the hand of support to each other, pay attention to each other and help each other, to set example how to do good things, to teach our children that it is important to be a good person and how to create better conditions for ourselves and our future by doing good for others and community.
‘I am convinced that the days are ahead of us when we will see that our little good people show us that a good turn deserves another’, Dragana Ivančević, Director of the Serbian Philanthropy Forum, concluded.
The National Day of Giving has been established on the initiative of the Serbian Philanthropy Forum within the USAID-funded project, and implemented by the Coalition for Giving, led by the Ana and Vlade Divac Foundation.