AS MANY as 5,000 volunteers helped out with various activities as part of the two-day Our City project in mid June in towns across Slovakia. This year employees from 80 companies and organisations took part, as did other volunteers from the public. In total 152 non-profit organisations in 11 Slovak cities participated in Our City events. These organisations often do not have the capacity or the finances to implement projects on their own.
The Pontis Foundation organised the event together with the Engage group of companies.
The biggest corporate volunteering events took place in Bratislava, Galanta, Sereď, Šaľa, Trenčín, Partizánske, Žilina, Liptovský Hrádok, Košice, Spišská Nová Ves and Hlohovec.
Activities included painting fences, planting trees and flowers, cleaning the Little Danube as well as parks and illegal garbage dumps, helping out at Slovak castles and spending time with seniors.
“We fished out 21 tires, two TVs, a stereo, designer sneakers, parts of a plastic chair, a computer screen and a pile of plastic bottles,” said Richard Weber of the organisation Strom Života (Tree of Life), who came up with the idea to clean the Little Danube in canoes.
