CIVIL SOCIETY: 269 PRACTICES
"Together for Children" Association was founded in Greece in 1996. It is a union of non-profit NGOs, that work in the field of child welfare and is managed by a Board of Directors composed of representatives of each member-organization.
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The "I Donate Because I Care" program is a help networking hub with the goal of gathering essential items and managing them effectively, to support organizations that serve children and families.
The program is aimed at child protection agencies nationwide, with the aim of strengthening their budget and helping the population they serve.
The program has been running smoothly since 2012. Due to its innovative features, it does not have a specific time frame of operation, instead, it has a continuous flow.
A few words about the initiative
The "I offer because I care" program started in 2012 when the financial crisis in Greece was at its height, seriously affecting the viability of child protection agencies. With the aim of strengthening child protection agencies and providing indiscriminate assistance to the vulnerable population they serve, the Union put into practice its "strength in unity" philosophy and created a product aid networking hub in order to serve the increased needs that had arisen period in food and other necessities. Specifically, the Union received donations in kind from companies and individuals and channeled them based on recorded needs to the institutions it initially served in Attica. From 2012 to 2015, the Union helped, in addition to its member associations, approximately 50 additional child protection agencies in Attica, while from 2015 this service acquired a nationwide scope, as the Union, with its own means, began to organize trips to all prefectures of Greece, once a year, in order to visit, support and get to know more than 200 child protection agencies that had requested help.
Thanks to this initiative, today the Union actively and steadily cooperates with more than 200 child protection agencies nationwide, expanding its cooperation with many of the agencies to other levels as well.
The species collected are:
Implementation of the initiative
"I Give Because I Care" focuses on relieving vulnerable groups that include children and their families by providing material goods. The program is implemented thanks to the harmonious and effective cooperation of the Union with suppliers and grantees. In particular, the Union comes into contact with businesses and individuals who wish to donate products as well as social services of municipalities, social bodies and institutions in order to record their needs. At the same time, it has a modern warehouse recording system for the detailed recording of the products it trades.
Innovative features
The innovative features of the program, as analyzed below, include the strong activation of the corporate and private offer, the strengthening of volunteering actions and synergies. Specifically:
Activation of a corporate offer: "Together for the Child" ensures the timely and up-to-date information of companies with the platform of the needs of the Union's member associations and collaborating bodies, with the aim of ensuring the supply of desirable and useful products. It is worth noting that, due to the companies' updated information on the collection of specific goods, such as baby milk, olive oil, etc., the beneficiaries express positive comments about receiving products with a high nutritional value.
Activation of private offering: "Together for the Child" activates and implements mass offering actions by private individuals, with the aim of mobilizing people who are interested in giving and want to participate in organized actions with a large social impact. For example, in action
"Easter Bunny" private individuals were invited to collect candles and Easter gifts for their offer to children of the beneficiary organizations. The action was positively evaluated by the participants, with the result that a chain reaction was created and additional useful goods were collected, such as cleaners and personal hygiene items.
Reinforcement of volunteering actions: Students of private schools chose to "adopt" the "Secret Santa" action and by offering necessary items to the benefiting children of the organizations cooperating with the Association.
Synergies: An important feature of the program is the strengthening of social solidarity, mutual aid and volunteerism as well as giving back to the local and wider society. In particular, the program is the epitome of cooperation between agencies due to mutual support, the exchange of information about the vulnerable population and the intention for a common methodology to empower the beneficiaries. On a private level, the evolution of the program's actions to bridge the beneficiary population with the "people next door" who are interested in the common good and offer, is an important factor of the program.
In 2021, we managed to increase the volume of donations we manage compared to the previous year and to strengthen the Union's member unions as well as the cooperating agencies throughout Greece by offering 93.1 tons of essential items compared to 84 tons in 2020, worth 932,794 euros.
Analytically:
We collaborated with 54 companies that offered 106.1 tons of essential items worth 1,208,182 euros.
Through the program, we supported 11,100 children throughout Greece, making 297 deliveries nationwide to child protection institutions and social grocery stores.
The following table shows in detail the quantity and value of the products we offered, by category:
DELIVERIES TO CARRIERS (1/1- 31/12/2021)
KG & VALUE / CATEGORY
DESCRIPTION
CLEANERS-DISPOSAL KG 5,813.68 / VALUE 15,028.37
FOOD KG 73,533.98 / VALUE 518,234.04
CLOTHING-SHOES KG 1,242.30 / VALUE 34,617.00
PER. HEALTHY KG 4,634.88 / VALUE 64,280.68
TOYS 2.50 KG / VALUE 0.00
BOOKS KG 89.00 / VALUE 890.00
SCHOOL KG 318.29 / VALUE 6,637.60
FURNITURE KG 4,820.00 / VALUE 5,240.00
OTHER (sanitary material, etc.) KG 2,702.20 / VALUE 287,827.22
TOTAL KG 93,156.83 / VALUE 932,754.90
From the items distributed, the Associations - Members of the Union were strengthened with 20.5 tons of essential items worth 215,770.19 euros.
Of the 297 deliveries we made, 99 were made to Associations - Members of the Union, while the remaining 198 were made to cooperating bodies.
The program "I donate because I care" supports organizations nationwide.
The program was designed and implemented by the Association "Together for the Children". The direct recipients and beneficiaries of the program are:
3 employees and 200 volunteers participate from the "Together for the Child" Union.
The Association "Together for the Children" benefited from the action as it developed a specific internal system for recording the products it receives as well as the needs it receives from the institutions. It also developed its delivery system and was able to respond to situations of cancellations of deliveries by an agency and immediate delivery to the next agency that had expressed interest.
We can therefore safely conclude that thanks to the program the strategic organization of the Union was strengthened.
At the same time, the program develops the social impact of the Union as it reinforces the following Sustainable Development Goals of the United Nations:
Goal 1: Zero Poverty
Supporting needy families with basic necessities, donations in food or in kind.
Goal 2: Zero Hunger
Offer of feeding products with high nutritional value.
Goal 3: Good Health & Wellbeing
Enhancing a healthy lifestyle through good nutrition and clothing
Goal 10: Ensure equal opportunities by eliminating discriminatory policies and practices
The program aims to alleviate inequalities within society
Goal 17: Strengthen global cooperation for sustainable development through multilateral corporate partnerships
Through the cooperation of the agencies and organizations participating in the program, good practices and ideas are exchanged with the aim of achieving sustainable development in all operations.
