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Naše mesto (Our City) is one of the largest corporate volunteering annual events in Central Europe. IBM in Slovakia is one of the committed supporters of this event. In 2021 every tenth volunteer in Slovakia was an IBMer! Thanks to the enthusiasm of the volunteers, dozens of public areas get revitalized during that single day of work in June every year. Through Naše mesto we strive to achieve long-lasting positive change and create visually attractive cities, that provide opportunities for cultural and social activities, and are safe and available to all their inhabitants.
IBM Slovakia takes a joint responsibility for the state and development of volunteering, and that’s why we are continually trying to improve the event and boost the contribution of volunteer activities. Participation in the event enables the volunteers to gain a positive experience, remain motivated and continue helping their neighborhoods and communities even after the event is over. One of the most important features is that this initiative is bottoms-up driven, meaning every IBMer may contact an NGO and help them to become a part of the Naše mesto.
The success of the event itself lies in its preparation that takes place months before the day of the event in June. The work begins from registering in the program, through a meaningful internal communication during every step of the process, up to promoting the individual activities and letting IBMers to enroll to those that suit them the most. Shall it be work in the kindergarten their children attend? Or a park by their house? Or a museum they have never visited?
Because of the pandemic, the rules for enrolling volunteers were much stricter this year, requiring a lot of “paperwork” by the company coordinators. A week before the event, every volunteer received a T- shirt, a cap and a lanyard promoting the initiative. Needless to say – ensuring this in the pandemic time as a big challenge and we are proud we were successful.
On June 11, 2021 over 500 IBMers in Slovakia helped our cities to become a better place for life. IBMers gave a helping hand in 33 activities within 4 Slovakia towns or cities, volunteering over 4,000 hours combined.
They cleaned 15 different areas including parks and public gardens, washed over 100 windows in public buildings like schools, elderly houses, youth and maternity centers, painted over 600 meters of walls and fences in kindergartens, schools, and a cemetery, planted over 70 trees and bushes. They renewed, repaired, or painted over 80 outdoor game elements, slides, climbing frames, rings, benches, see-saws, roundabouts... Two teams spent valuable time with the seniors from the elderly homes and prepared a barbeque party for them. The English and German native speakers were hosts in language classes at elementary schools. One team even built a paper castle and props for a kindergarten show about a princess and a scary dragon! The volunteers invested their time, enthusiasm, and energy - and that is sometimes more than the work itself. We are proud of every one of them and of every little deed thank to which our cities are a better place to live.
Nomination Title: Naše Mesto - Let's Change It Together
