Volunteer Program

Quarterly Report

April - June 2011

SPECIFIC OBJECTIVES OF THE REPORTED PERIOD

1. Getting volunteers involved in social projects aiming at supporting disadvantaged people from Bacau.

2. 2% Campaign

3. Cleaning campaign whose main objective is cleaning at least 10 homes where beneficiaries from the SIC program live (elderly immobilized people).

4. Street campaign close to Easter in ARENA MALL

5. Organizing the National Volunteer Week

6. Organizing an event for the volunteers in the 12th grade – ‘Graduated Day’

7. Selecting the volunteers for the Summer Schools

Objectives evaluation:

All the objectives have been achieved or are in the process of being achieved.

BENEFICIARIES

Direct:

a) Volunteers

MONTH	ACTIVE VOLUNTEERS
April	230
May	210
June	120

b) Program beneficiaries

“Mozaic” Centre	45
“Clubul cu lipici -Tache”	120
S.I.C.	16
Profamilia Complex “Ştrand”	20
Profamilia Complex ”Bistriţa”	19
Profamilia Complex CFR	18
County Hospital, Neurology	60

Activities at the children centers Pro Familia	The relationship between volunteers – children is better and better, the improved results from school proving the support given by the volunteers in homework and tutoring. 50 volunteers are assigned to this project
Activities at the Neurology section in the Bacau County Hospital	Monthly meetings together with the volunteers involved in the project have been established. Each month a certain topic was discussed in the form of a seminar, the volunteers having thus the opportunity to share positive and negative experiences with the regard to the previous month. Social activities as well as support for people who are in a more advanced stage of disease or who are immobilized were continued. Regarding the activity, the story of one of the volunteers activating in this project can be read later on (annex 1). 28 volunteers were assigned to this project.
Activities at the administrative headquarters	The secretariat department developed a new database with all of the active volunteers, they have archived the files of the volunteers who are in the 12th grade, have helped in writing certificates for the ‘Volunteer Gala’ event. 10 volunteers sorted and delivered UPC bills
Activities at the daycare center for the elderly	- Weekly visits made by volunteers to the immobilized elderly in order to: socialize, talk, help with their groceries, buying medicine and paying visits to the doctor; - Within the ‚Doctor Stefan Ciobanu’ daycare center, the volunteers continued the activities of the English Club and aerobics which our volunteers are coordinating. –16 volunteers
“Mozaic” Community Center	7-8 volunteers are present on a daily basis, providing support to children in doing their homework and an additional 2-3 volunteers are assigned to a new club activity, each day bringing a different one. An evaluation following the 2010-2011 school year has been made, volunteers have discussed each case (child) individually and the conclusions will be presented to the coordinator of the centre and project specialists in order to intervene and bring improvements in the education system 48 volunteers are assigned.
Clubul cu Lipici from the “Domnita Maria” School in Bacau	At the ‚Club with glue’ (Clubul cu lipici) from the ‚Domnita Maria’ School, a series of shows and expositions were organized and presented both to teachers as well as parents. Within this project, an evaluation of each club was made, bringing with it new ideas for improving the activities. Recommendations from teachers were requested with the help of a questionnaire. Throughout the summer and until the starting of the new school year, the activities in the club have been suspended. The volunteers from this center have been assigned to other projects. 35 volunteers are assigned
UPC Project	10 volunteers have been assigned for sorting the bills according to areas and streets. Afterwards, a team formed by volunteers (50 scholarship children) helped distribute the total 38.000 envelopes.
Management activities	Monthly meetings with each department and activity center have been held during which the entire activity of each volunteer has been analyzed and the working methods with the beneficiaries improved. Thus, there are 5 monthly meetings with each coordinator and the volunteers involved in the 5 activity centers and 1 monthly meeting with the coordinators and the established leaders. The program for the summer has been established in each center and volunteers have been allocated according to the activities. Preselections for the volunteers who will be going to the summer schools have also been held, bringing with them plans of the activities according to groups. The teams who will be going in the 7 summer schools have been formed and the next step is a training for the volunteers involved in the project. The volunteer board has been temporarly disolved as a result of conflictual situations. It has been resumed under a different name: Developing Department. An activity report of this project can be read in Annex 2. During the holiday, the number of volunteers is lower because of the pupils in the terminal classes and from other party of the county. As a result some changes in each project are necesssary. These have been made at this time.

SPECIAL ACTIVITIES

a) The Volunteer Gala 2011, 5th edition

On May 12th 2011, the 5th edition of the County Volunteer Gala took place at the Bacau Cultural House, organized by the Community Support Foundation. This was the most important event within the National Volunteer Week for which the leading NGOs and county institutions attended. Nine NGOs were enrolled, all of which awarded their volunteers for their hard work in 2010: The Community Support Foundation, Habitat for Humanity Comanesti, ONESTIN Youth Assosiation, ‘Prieteni Necuvântători’ Animal Protection Association Bacau, We Love Nature Association, Saint Ioan Bosco Foundation, ‘Veniti cu Noi’ Tourism and Ecology Club, The National Antidrug Agency – Prevention Center, Antidrug Evaluation and Counseling Bacau, ‘Da mai departe’ Association, The Regional Ecology Center and ARDOR Bacau. A total of 700 people attended the event.

In the opening, Narcis Iustin Ianau sung, the young man who amazed the entire country with his extraordinary voice, stating that he was happy to have been a part of the gala as a volunteer.

Within the event the most active and dedicated volunteers of the above mentioned NGOs were awarded. The most important awards of the evening, for the ‘Volunteer of the Bacau County 2010’ and ‘The Volunteer Project of 2010’ from the Bacau County were awarded at the end of the gala, the decision belonging to a jury formed by representatives of the partner institutions: Prefecture, County Council, City Hall, ISJ Bacau and the Student County Council.

On behalf of the County Council Bacau, the President, Mr. Dragos Benea and the Prefect, Mr. Constantin Scripet attended and spoke. The later handed to Ioana Mare the award for the ‘County Volunteer 2010’ and to the Saint Ioan Bosco Foundation from Bacau, the award for ‘The Volunteer Project of 2010’, project which took part in Lărguţa, an isolated part of the county, under the slogan: ‘Summer together, ship of hapiness’ (“Vara împreună, nava bucuriei”). Its objective was ‘to train both parents and children in activities related to education and its decisive role in forming ones personality and drawing the future of the village inhabitants.’, said Ionut Chirita, member of the jury.

The Community Support Foundation awarded its most extraordinary volunteers, thus acknowledging their merits and efforts over the course of 2010. The volunteers who are in the 12th grade received their volunteer certificates. The awarded volunteers are:

Genes Elena-‘Volunteer of the year 2010’

Baciu Paul-‘Volunteer of the year 2010’

Dulgheru Andrei-‘Most active volunteer 2010’

Curila Elina-‘Best leader 2010’

Pascal Ionut-‘Best coordinator2010’

Baciu Valentina-Volunteer of the year for the ‘Clubul cu Lipici’ project 2010

Genes Stefan- Volunteer of the year for the ‘Mozaic’ project 2010

Scripcaru Madalina- Volunteer of the year for the ‘Pro Familia’ project 2010

Humuta Mihaela- Volunteer of the year for the ‘Pro Familia’ project 2010

Balint Otilia- Volunteer of the year for the ‘Summer schools’ project 2010

Ghenade Graziela- Volunteer of the year for the ‘Alongside a senior’ project

Grosu Diana- Volunteer of the year for the ‘From one heart to another’ project

We thank all of the FSC volunteers for their involvement within the National Volunteer Week and for their entire activity.

b) The National Volunteer Week (SNV).

FSC organized this year as well the National Volunteer Week between 9th-16th of May. This event is one of tradition at a national level, in Bacau reaching its 3rd edition. At the level of the Bacau County, the FSC Volunteer Centre coordinated the National Volunteer Week. Present at the event were 15 organizations and institutions, carrying on aproximately 30 events and involving over 2000 volunteers.

In what follows, we shall present the most important events within SNV:

The National Volunteer Week started on May 9th, in Bacau with a march against ethnobotanical plants organized by the Antidrug Prevention National Agencu in partnership with FSC, the Bacau County Inspectorate, the Student County Council, the city hall, the county police inspectorate, the public sanitation unit.

This march, which had an incredible impact on youngsters, had as main objective raising the awareness on the danger of consuming ethnobotanical plants and diminishing this type of consumation.

At the manifestation, a large number of pupils took part from the local high schools and colleges together with volunteers from various NGOs. At the same time, journalists and photographers who were present there claimed that the county has not seen such a manifestation for some years.

With such an impressive debut we would like to announce a week full of interesting activities focused on promoting volunteer work among the citizens of Bacau. We would like to invite you to take part in as many as possible.

We would also like to thank the 100 FSC volunteers involved in this action and we hope that their presence be felt in all of the upcoming activities.

c) Another major activity of this week has been the Bacau Volunteers Fair.

The 10 most important organizations from the Bacau County which work with volunteers and have specific projects in which volunteers can be involved have been invited. The enrollment for the fair has been open to other NGOs that wanted to promote their activities and attract volunteers. At the same time, the fair was promoted in high schools, universities, public institutions and local supermarkets in order to be introduced to the public in general and to those interested in volunteering in particular. Furthermore, the high schools and local colleges have been invited to take part with artistic moments.

The location of the fair was a visible one with intense traffic, namely the Cathedral Park in Bacau. Special stands for the participants have been put up, spaces meant for organizing various games, contests, interactive activities and a scene for artistic moments. The event took place form the hours of 11:00 – 20:00 and was divided into two parts:

1. The NGO Expo: Each NGO received a stand meant to display representative materials: photographs, objects created by the beneficiaries, flyers and other informational material. In this way the NGOs benefited from an organized environment in which they presented their activities and manners in which volunteers can get involved. Also, the volunteers of the various organizations got acquainted and learned from the experiences of others;
2. The Fun&Creativity Zone: one of the alleys of the park became a special zone for creation and recreational activities both for the visitors and the NGOs. Games, creative shops, contests and any other conceived or taught activity during the volunteer projects were organized, all of which meant to emphasize the aptitues of the volunteers, their personal and group qualities, thier originality and creativity and it especially proved that volunteering is not only a useful and important activity but also a pleasant one;

Results: In this action, a number of 11 associations and organizations which work with volunteers in the Bacau County took part: FSC, Habitat for Humanity Comanesti, ONESTIN Youth Assosiation, ‘Prieteni Necuvântători’ Animal Protection Association Bacau, We Love Nature Association, Betania Association, Saint Ioan Bosco Foundation, ‘Veniti cu Noi’ Tourism and Ecology Club, The National Antidrug Agency – Prevention Evaluation and Counseling Center, The Stanca Veacurilor Organization, ‘Da mai departe’ Association, The Regional Ecology Center, HFH Comanesti, ‘Scouts of Romania’ National Organization, ‘Sfanta Cruce’ Local Center and ‘Insula Cercetasului’ Local Center. Aproximately 10 volunteers have been recruited and more high schools pupils displayed interest. In the artistic moments, 4 high schools from Bacau participated.

d)1st of June, Children’s Day

As it is well known across the world, the 1st of June is a day dedicated to children. Continuing what has become a tradition for several years now, the Community Support Foundation organized within the ‘Domnita Maria’ School a carnival at which children could have fun and enjoy themselves.

Employees and volunteers from the face-painting and balloon stands could barely keep up with the tens of children who wanted a memory of the day. Children had the opportunity of enrolling to contests generously rewarded by sponsors of the event: FourStarPizza and Sister’s Grill Fast Food. Good music, songs interpreted by talented children from the school and dances performed by the volunteers entertained the atmosphere.

At the end of the day, each child left smiling, delighted by how the day was spent and with the memory of a day hard to forget!!

e) The campaign of cleaning 10 homes belonging to beneficiaries (elderly immobilized people) within SIC.

As we all know, before the Easter holidays it is accustomed that each home receive a general well received cleaning in order to wait for the Resurrection of Jesus with everything in order.

With this in mind, around 50 volunteers of the Community Support Foundation decided to lend a hand to elderly people incapable of performing the cleaning activities for Easter themselves. A number of 10 teams, each of 4-5 volunteers were formed in order to suffice the 10 requests the organization received.     

      Among the actions of cleaning windows, cleaning carpets, vacuuming, brooming and many others, the volunteers received a happy smile at the end of their activity from the beneficiary and a warm thank you for being able to spend the holidays in their clean home.

        For some of the FSC volunteers, the experience was unique, being their first activity of the sort which is why we would like to thank them for the effort and kindness they proved.

f) Leadership, communication, teamwork and project management training

In this period, courses for the new volunteers were organized with the purpose of initiating them in the activities they will undergo in the FSC projects and also for their life experience in the future.

To this end, in the months of May and June, 54 volunteers learned what teamwork means, how they can communicate efficiently both with thier colleagues and with beneficiaries, what being a leader means, abilities concerning planning, implementing activities and projects, using resources, avoiding risks, monitoring and evaluation. In the upcoming period, all of the FSC volunteers will benefit from this training session.

Meetings/Visits

a) I took part in the National Conference of the European Year of Volunteering (Conferinta Nationala a Anului European al Voluntariatului), in Bucharest.

b) I took part in the gathering of the work group within the Implementation Comission of the European Year of Volunteering in Romania, in Bucharest, being chosen as a member in the group concerning corporative volunteering.

OBJECTIVES FOR THE UPCOMING PERIOD

1. Getting volunteers involved in social projects which aim helping diadvantaged people form Bacau.

2.Organizing 8 Summer Schools in Bacau and Podu Turcului with the involvement of volunteers from the UK;

3.Organizing a thematic camp at the seaside for 30 volunteers

4.Organizing a fundraising campaign in the parks of the city Bacau

Gabriel Magurianu

Programme Coordinator

ANNEX 1

VOLUNTEER STORY

My name is Scarlat Andreea and I have been a volunteer within the Community Support Foundation for the past 9 months. For me, being a volunteer means helping others without asking for something in return, enjoying every smile of the person you are helping as if it is the greatest reward you could ever receive. Not long ago I drove home an old lady together with my colleague Diana. She was paralized on one side, hand and leg. It was a unique experience because we had several little incidents along the way. Still, we managed to take her home safe.

Because we got attached pretty fast with the lady, after several weeks we decided to pay her a visit. We pondered on what to go with because we did not know exactly how we would find her. We decided to get a bouquet of flowers hoping that we will find her better and as warm as when we met her. We knew she was living mostly on her own yet we hoped she could answer us. To our luck we managed to go up and ring the bell. After aproximately 30 minutes in which no one answered we decided to ask the neighbours, perhaps they knew something. Unfortunatly nobody answered. A lady who was on her way out suggested that we go to the stair chief. We did not have much luck there either so we decided to leave. On our way out of the building a man offered information. He told us the lady did not feel well and has been transfered to a hospital in Iasi in order to be operated. The joy with which we went to meet with her went away in a few seconds. We were hoping to find her better and we hoped from all our hearts to enjoy our visits. With sadness we decided to leave. Now we were thinking what to do with the flowers we had bought. They were meant with her and we could not do just anything with them. The only idea that came to mind was to give the flowers away to the first onld lady who crossed our path. When we saw an old lady we approached her and we introduced ourselves and stated our idea of offering her the flowers on behalf of the Community Support Foundation. The first reaction was to ask the cost. After we explained that we do not want the money, only to accept them, she was very happy.

Although the sadness overwhelmed us, giving the flowers we recharged with energy and with a state we had never had. We had made an onld lady whom we had never met smile.

As for the old lady, we hope that the next time we decide to visit her, we will find her home well and healthly.

Being a volunteer means knowing how to give others however small thing, even a smile and enjoy each ‘Thank you’ you receive.

Older report

CLICK HERE Volunteers April_ June 2010.htm