Our Town 2022 opens applications for companies and non-profits
The largest corporate volunteering event in Slovakia, entitled Our Town (tr. Naše Mesto), has launched a call for applications for companies and non-profits. Employers who care about the communities and places where they do their business now can "share" their employees for one day with non-profit organisations focused on improving our towns.
This year, Our Town will take place on the 10th of June. It will connect thousands of volunteers with dozens of non-profits in order to visibly beautify towns in Slovakia.
“Last year, over 130 companies joined Our Town. They helped improve the places where we live and work through more than 320 activities across Slovakia. In addition to the great feeling of having helped, the volunteers also experienced a great teambuilding event with their colleagues, learned new hard and soft skills and exchanged their offices or home offices for work in an exterior, at least for a while,” says Michal Kišša, Executive Director of the Pontis Foundation.
Volunteers were happy that they often managed to inspire casual passers-by or locals during their work to improve something in their surroundings as well. Many visited interesting places and learnt new information that broadened their horizons.
This year, too, companies and their employees will have a wide range of activities to select from – dozens of gardens, parks, community centres, schools, kindergartens and monuments will need their help.
Individual activities will continue in 2022 under strict hygienic measures, carried out in small groups. Only people from one company will be able to sign up for the same activity. Most work activities will take place outdoors.
The registration is currently also open to projects of civil society organisations that need the helping hand of volunteers. “Our Town is a good opportunity for non-profits to obtain specific manual assistance for which they would not otherwise be able to allocate resources and capacities. Things that normally take weeks can be done in a much shorter time. At the event, the organisations also have a chance to gain new supporters and raise awareness on the issue they focus on,” explains M. Kišša.
Applying for a project
- Registration for companies is open until the 17th of March, 2022.
- Registration of non-profits is open until the 24th of March, 2022.
- The registration of specific participants, as well as the selection of activities, will then take place as of the 5th of May.
About Our Town
Our Town is the most famous corporate volunteering event in Central Europe. Last year, approximately 5,600 volunteers took part in various locations throughout Slovakia. Workers from 132 companies and institutions have joined hands in 44 Slovak towns and their surroundings. They helped 171 non-profit organisations, low-threshold centres, schools and kindergartens to improve their functioning.
You can find more about the Our Town event on the website www.nasemesto.sk.
