Spring 2017, Issue I

Helping the local community

CIEE Prague Study Center has organized a Charity Date Auction as part of the Graduation Ball event for all study programs, in which all participants were Fall 2016 students. It was the second Date Auction in CIEE Prague’s history and it was a well-anticipated charity get together event.

The main goal of the Auction was to collect money to support the Život dětem Foundation (Life to Children Foundation), a non-profit organization established in 2000. After a discussion with the director of the Život dětem Foundation, CIEE has decided to hand over the raised amount of money to Karolínka. This 9 year-old girl was a victim of a very bad car accident six years ago, after which she became incontinent and had several back injuries. Unfortunately, these injuries were so serious that Karolínka can´t feel her legs. The collected money (4 600 CZK) from the Date Auction went to Karolínka's new wheelchair.

CIEE Study Center Director and Program Coordinator handed over the money to the Director of the Život dětem Foundation and obtained a certificate about having donated. This meeting has also been a great success in relation to a new project called “Kolíbanky” (Lullabies) which will be a part of the volunteering program. Students will get the chance to write a short story about the place where they live and send their region's typical lullaby to the radio where Kolíbanky will be promoted to kids. Or students can come right to the radio and record their lullaby on site.

All CIEE Prague staff is involved in helping the local community continually throughout the year: some design volunteering programs and events, such as the Treasure Hunt for children from local orphanages and disadvantaged families, others support local businesses employing disabled or socially disadvantaged individuals by organizing program events in these cafes and restaurants. Apart from these long-term commitments, we also organize much bigger events to involve students, professors, buddies and staff. More people involved allows to collect much larger sums of money, which we can then use to help those who really need our support. It always warms our hearts to see that our efforts, no matter how big, make a real difference and brighten the lives of the less fortunate and motivates us to continue helping the local community.