Thank you for your help in 2011 and let us give you a short summary of the Foundation’s activity.
The AmCham Foundation has been working in its current form since 2001 and has distributed nearly 300 Million HUF in donations among children’s institutions in need so far. Over 75 kindergartens, schools and children’s homes are still in operation and are able to provide healthy living conditions to children in need thanks to your donations.
2011
In June we organized the “Cake and Coke” reception, an informal evening to discuss ideas and opinions about our activities and goals. AmCham new members had the opportunity to meet members of the AmCham Foundation Board of Trustees, the people who publicly represent the Foundation’s interests, and also senior-level executives from fellow AmCham member companies, including the most generous donators over the last 20 years.A few days later we “Made it Happen” in Devecser. Nearly 60 volunteers helped renovate the yard of the local primary school. On June 18 AmCham members and staff arrived at the town, where the damages of the red-sludge are still visible, and along with local teachers spent the day gardening and painting fences and doors.
We had a fantastic and productive day in Devecser and by the end of the day we were all exhausted, but happy and satisfied that we were able to give something back to the local community.
We would like to say thank you and express our appreciation to the participant companies, especially to Provident who delegated the most volunteers, to Persecutor, to Manpower, and to LEG. We are also grateful for PLT Daily Newspapers for the press release!
At the next volunteer day 15 volunteers from Morgan Stanley helped at the Children’s Transitional Home in Ferencváros, Budapest.AmCham Foundation seeks to undertake the task of organizing voluntary programs for all AmCham members, so please feel free to contact us at any time.
The AmCham Foundation again launched its yearly Thanksgiving Charity Drive with the recurring purpose to help poor children living in Hungary. With the 2011 tender we wished to call attention to the children themselves, and to ask the members of AmCham to give disenfranchised but talented kids in limiting social or financial situations, a chance through their support.
The received tenders were evaluated by an external expert committee. Three institutes from Vas county were chosen for support:
– Tudor Foundation – Szombathely Workshop, where pupils can learn foreign languages and IT in small groups to prepare for high school.
– Mérték Association in Vasvárorganizes summer camp, many children’s only chance for vacation, and also financial and intellectual investment into their creativity and respective futures.
– Móra Ferenc Primary School and Basic Institute for Teaching Arts in Répcelak organizes programs for supporting the teaching material related to Hungarian language and literature, math, drawing and visual culture, which enable the improvement of emotional intelligence; advance creativity, and fine motor skills.
The Presentation Ceremony for Donations was held on November 28 at Savaria University Center in Szombathely. The winners of this year’s tender were announced by the curators of the AmCham Foundation, Mária Gordon, Zsuzsa Rajki, andDr. Péter Komáromi. At the celebration the kids had the opportunity to paint with the help of the famous graphic designer Édua Szűcs, and some of the paintings were printed on the AmCham Christmas cards. Vivien Holdosi, a talented 17 year old girl from Tudor read a self-written poem to the audience titled We Carry the Cross Because We Are Fighters, which refers to the difficulties of breaking out from formidable circumstances.
At the round-table discussion, special guest of the event psychologist Tamás Vekerdy spoke regarding the definition of talent, using Vivien’s poem as explanation: the talented must fight because they are different. Their thinking is divergent and more creative, which schools do not appreciate. Being talented and being a bit different is always hard.
The Foundation wishes to thank those who have contributed to this collection, who are listed below:
American Airlines Inc. Magyarországi Fióktelepe * American House Foundation * Amrop Kohlmann & Young * Budapest Marriott Hotel/Millennium Court * Citibank Europe plc Magyarországi Fióktelepe * Columbian Tiszai Koromgyártó Kft. * Dow Hungary Chemicals Ltd. * GDF Suez Energia Holding * Fáth Péter * fama Public Relations Kft. * Flextronics Global Services Budapest * Flextronics International Kft. * IT Services Hungary Ltd. * Interdean Hungária Nemzetközi Költöztető Kft. * Johnson & Johnson * M-Audit Könyvvizsgáló, Fejlesztő és Szolgáltató Kft. * Mécs and Partners & Csákay and Partners * Pannon Lapok Társasága Kiadói Kft. * Reader’s Digest Kiadó Kft. * Young, David
AmCham Foundation again organized its charity movie night in December. 55 kids from Vas County had the opportunity to enjoy the adventures of “Puss in Boots” in 3D. All proceeds from the tickets went to supporting talented but disadvantaged children. Following the film the children celebrated with lunch at Burger King.
Special thanks to Interag Zrt., Burger King and Flextronics International Kft.
