GOALS:
• To help children in need of social, mental or physical support
• To provide transparent and ethical charity services for donor corporations
• To promote corporate social responsibility and the ethos of volunteerism in the Hungarian business culture
Thank you, AmCham Members!
Because of supporters like you, we are able to provide help and life-changing relief to children in need. ACF is proud of the commitment we make to children’s well-being. Our supporters – domestic and multinational companies – help the less fortunate through monetary and in-kind donations, along with hours of voluntary work. The AmCham Foundation is comprised of volunteers who are not financially compensated for their work. Anybody can join the foundation, depending on his/her time and determination. In order to operate successfully, the AmCham Foundation relies on a solid core, namely the AmCham Foundation Board of Trustees and secretary.
Activity Report of 2017
Spring Buzz – We Made It Again!
The goal of the “Spring Buzz – A Day to Make It Happen” Volunteers’ Day on May 20, was to improve the surroundings of two children’s institutes in Budapest (Cseppkő Gyermekotthoni Központ and Bólyai Gyermekotthonok Hűvösvölgyi Gyermekotthona). More than 120 volunteers, employees of AmCham member companies (Avis Budget Group, Exxon BSC, Lexmark Hungary, MAPI, NCR Hungary, Tata Consultancy, Urmet), students from BME Kéttannyelvű Gimnázium, and social workers of the two children’s institutes spent their day to improve the environment where the disadvantaged children are fostered and educated.
Indian Summer Brought Helping Hands
In the beautiful fall sunshine, more than 100 volunteers worked on October 14 within the framework of the “A Day to Make It Happen” corporate volunteer day by joining the ACF’s invitation. Volunteers from Tata Consultancy and NCR Hungary were among the first ones to apply.
Thanks to EXXON, KPMG, Lexmark, Urmet and other individual volunteers, more than 100 people helped the institutional employees and their relatives in the buildings and garden of Zsótér Pál Foundation, Kézzelfogható Foundation and the Hóangyal Foundation (Érd).
A few of the involved companies offered more than volunteers and financial help to ensure that the day ran smoothly, bringing supplies of cleaning products, paint, tools and baked goods with them in the morning. Volunteer work is a long tradition at the AmCham Foundation.
ACF Generosity Award 2017 Winners
For 28 years, the AmCham Foundation has been helping institutions that are supplying or supporting children who are permanently in need or require help due to extraordinary circumstances.
The Foundation established the Generosity Award in 2005, in order to thank those supporters who – compared to their own opportunities – contribute the most to the Foundation’s goals.
In 2017, the AmCham Foundation involved nearly 250 volunteers in helping many different foundations, children’s homes and schools with more than 2,000 working hours. Overall, the AmCham Foundation reached more than 500 children in eight institutions in 2017. The winners of this award, besides their commitment to the good cause, contributed to both funds and volunteer work to the success of the AmCham Foundation.
The winners of this year are: ExxonMobile BSC Hungary and NCR Hungary.
ACF Code-Theater
On November 18, 2017, with nearly 100 children participating, the AmCham Foundation launched its new program named: ACF Code-Theater, with the purpose to teach safe internet/IT usage for children living in state and foster care in Hungary.
Children and teenagers are flooded by information and communication technology. It has become an essential and common part of their daily life. They don’t question the pros and cons; they don’t read the manuals; they just use the technology. Social media is an extension of their social life and a platform to meet one another. They use ICT to meet,
to play, to date, to connect, to explore the world and to construct (multiple) identities.
This is a huge problem, especially for children living in state and foster care, because the majority of them are coming from the poorest regions or stay with foster families in isolated small rural communities. Using these devices, they are more exposed to internet abuse and/or crime simply because of lack of education or awareness. Our program aims to educate them about proper usage, empowering them with 21st century skills.
With a series of interactive rehearsals, our aim is to move kids out of their normal/comfort zones, meet with others facing the same problems and give them solutions and approaches
to solving and addressing problems together. Our program will touch upon internet bullying, internet addiction, and usage of reliable online help pages.
We are grateful to the KPMG for providing the site and an IT expert!
Farewell Zsuzsa Rajki
In 1989, during a business trip in the United States, Zsuzsa Rajki participated in a Thanksgiving Charity Drive. The sophistication and spirit of this event left such a deep impression on her that, upon returning to Budapest, she decided to establish a Thanksgiving Charity Drive for AmCham in Hungary in November 1989.
Her efforts bore fruit that same year. The donations – including medical equipment and toys – from the very first AmCham Thanksgiving Charity Drive went to benefit the children, maternity and gynecological wards of MÁV Hospital.
In 2001 the AmCham Foundation was established with the help of. Ádám Terták, amongst others. For 16 years, Zsuzsa has been the representative of the AmCham Foundation.
We would like to thank Zsuzsa for everything she has brought to our Foundation, for the time and work she gave during the 16 years she served as a Representative of AmCham Foundation and the 28 years she has worked on the AmCham Charity Drives.
We would like to ensure that Zsuzsa’s work continues to inspire future generations as well, therefore we are introducing a new award: the “Zsuzsa Rajki Award for Young Talent”. We named this award after Zsuzsa, because we want her example to shine and remain with us as long as our Foundation is in operation.
The Award will be granted through a charity tender for the first time in 2018.
THINK BIG – SUPPORT THE SMALLEST!
Great volunteers like you never want anything in return
but are always ready to do great things out of turn.
Thanks for volunteering. See you in 2018 again!
Memorable moments of our volunteers:
