Hemofarm Foundation is celebrating 29 years of work by donating one ton of canned food to users of soup kitchens in Vršac and Šabac, the cities where the company's plants are located in Serbia. As part of the ’People to People’ campaign, employees of Hemofarm and its foundation collected food for 1,400 users of soup kitchens in these two cities.
’This food donation is just one in a series of activities that we have implemented in the previous period, and our employees have demonstrated great solidarity this time as well. Hemofarm Foundation is always where help is most needed, providing support to institutions and society. In the past 29 years, we have implemented more than 2,250 activities worth EUR 13.4 million and provided scholarships to 3,660 students, many of whom are our colleagues today. As we approach the great anniversary of our organization next year, celebration of three decades of existence, this makes us even more obliged to take even stronger care of people, because there is no healthy society without healthy individuals’, said Suzana Djordjević, Director of Hemofarm Foundation.
Aware of the rising rate of depression due to COVID-19 crisis, last year, Hemofarm Foundation initiated the campaign ’Unbreakables’ with the aim to raise awareness of the significance of preservation of mental health, fight against depression and stigma that accompanies the patients. More than million people have joined the movement ’Unbreakables’ so far, while more than 10,000 people got help through the free SOS line 0800 001 002. It is available 24/7, and the support is given by the experts from the special hospitals for psychiatric diseases in Vršac, Kovin, Novi Kneževac and Gornja Toponica. This campaign of Hemofarm Foundation only won 12 national and international awards among which VIRTUS represents a special award for the most innovative project in 2021.
’We are proud that Hemofarm as the leading pharmaceutical company is supported by the leading foundation in the area of health in Serbia. We are especially proud of our employees that supported collection of help for soup kitchens and demonstrated once again by our own example what it means to be humane. We must not forget that science, medicine and pharmaceutical industry have done a lot for the mankind and every one of us individually, prolonging human life and improving the quality of life. Health and humanity go hand in hand and that is exactly our role - to make the company and the foundation a reliable partner whose help people can count on’ said Ronald Seeliger, CEO of Hemofarm.
Apart from humanitarian drives and national campaign for preservation of mental health, Hemofarm Foundation continued over the course of last year, to organize the public panels called ’A Cup of Coffee with a Psychologist’, at which the eminent psychologists, psychiatrists and other experts discussed the different aspects of mental health that the modern society faces. Likewise, Foundation is conducting a ’Program for Education’ which, through scholarships and mentoring support, connects the most successful final year students with experts in this company. Hemofarm Foundation continued to promote individuals for outstanding achievements in the field of health, education and culture by awarding the annual Excellence Award, while within the ’Program for Culture’ it supports people and ideas that are the driving force of modern society. One of such activities was the Foundation's support for the realization of the movie ’Summer when I Learned to Fly’ which affirms family values, friendship, reconciliation and empathy among people.
As a member of Serbian Philanthropic Forum and European Philanthropic Association – Philea, Hemofarm Foundation became a part of the big family of organizations that are recognized by their efforts and help to the society. Celebrating 29th anniversary, Hemofarm Foundation looks ahead and prepares to step into the fourth decade of existence even braver, taking a constant care on the health of people and observing the principles of healthy and sustainable society.