During its 30-year old history in Hungary, active participation in the domestic social life and unselfish partnership have always been important for the company. SPAR participates actively in making everyday life better: she promotes support organisations being in connection with health and social issues and among others in the field of education, culture and sport. These endeavours and initiatives are organized into a common frame and made efficient by the programme „SPAR – for a sustainable future”.
„During pandemic and forced closure, the empathic helpfulness of people towards each other is particularly appreciated. It is a great pleasure and pride for us to have had the chance to experience the exceptional sacrifice of our customers. Thanks to them too, our company spent last year more than HUF 186 million to social sustainable issues during its various community charity initiatives and social actions covering numerous fields of life. The personal character of our support programmes realized by the contribution of our strategic partner, Hungarian Charity Service of the Order of Malta touched the customers in the year 2020 being full of challenges, which is really promising and encouraging for the future” – said Márk Maczelka, Head of Communication.
Merry Christmas for ten thousand families
With its „Giving is Joy!” Christmas fundraising initiative, SPAR helps for more than 20 years the people living in difficult circumstances. During the fundraising campaign realized by the coordination of Hungarian Charity Service of the Order of Malta, the customers helped their fellow humans in December 2020 by buying donation cards worth of HUF 18 million in 105 designated SPAR and INTERSPAR stores and in the SPAR online shop as well. Thanks to the donations, the organization could deliver food packages to ten thousand families and elderly people living alone even before the holidays. The store chain has increased the success of the initiative by an irregular contribution: it doubled the value of the donation offered by the customers, thus the last year’s “Giving is Joy!”ended with HUF 36 million donation.
Products of the Hungarian Charity Service of the Order of Malta on the shelves
In the framework of another initiative of SPAR and the Charity Service, the canvas bags of the sewing shop of the organisation in Tiszabura are sold in the INTERSPAR-network. The sales help the women and mothers working in the disadvantaged settlement, while they offer perfect environmentally friendly solutions for the shoppings. Another common undertaking is the distribution of food products of the Hungarian Charity Service of the Order of Malta for a year now in the designated stores of the store chain in Budapest and in the countryside. The sales of hibiscus tea, sauces with special or traditional flavour, vegetable pastes or marmalades mean a living for those disabled, marginalised people who work in the manufactures of the charity organization in Páty and Gyulaj. The articles are in demand and popular in the stores of SPAR-group, this shows the efficiency of the model. The main effect – social benefit – is that the people participating in the project carry out today value-creating work which has also changed the life of families fundamentally.
Support of the catering of epidemiological and child protection workers
In the framework of the „Feed the Doctor!” civil movement, the store chain has provided free of charge pre-packaged sandwiches prepared in the SPAR enjoy. convenience plant in Üllő for nurses and doctors working in the first line of the virus defence. The company has also supported the initiative with a donation worth of HUF 1.5 million by which the hot lunch of more than 100 healthcare workers was ensured daily – without compensation.
Furthermore for the call of UNICEF Hungary, SPAR has provided financial support and sandwiches to children living in child protection care and people working in the child protection system. The store chain has supported with HUF 2 million the work of the organization which helps night and day the disadvantaged, ill children being in difficult situation during the period of epidemic as well, moreover, it has also contributed with sandwiches to the catering of children living in child protection institutions and the experts dealing with them.
Support for starving children
The Feed the Children Foundation helps since 1993 the undernourished, invariably eating children living in poverty to get food in appropriate quantity and quality. The organization has cooperated with the store chain for 8 years and it collects donations for this purpose in more than 100 stores. In 2020, the customers donated HUF 2.5 million for this important issue. The foundation has supported from the donation given by SPAR customers such families that got into in a hopeless situation because of the coronavirus pandemic: almost 700 children of 300 families got help to grew up healthier and not to starve. The people in need also received fresh fruits and vegetables besides basic foodstuff.
Fighting against the illnesses of children – one balloon, double joy
The cooperation of SPAR Hungary and Do Something for Children and People with Leukemia Non-profit Foundation has a decade of history. The store chain provides place in its stores for fundraising – stand for balloons to fold – and it supports the summer camping of families with leukemia. By the support, the organization can continuously help families affected with leukemia, other blood system disease, bone marrow transplantation: the foundation could help in the last 11 years nearly 1000 families which means approximately HUF 120 million of patient support.
Care of disabled people with changed work capacity
SPAR, being dedicated to equal opportunity, works together with Janka Tanya in Tótvázsony from 2017. The purpose of the non-profit organization is to realize such daily occupation which enables to achieve success and contributes to that our autistic fellow humans can become creating part of the society. During the cooperation with the civil organization, two or three times a week, the INTERSPAR employees in Veszprém welcome the youngsters who carry out different – self-stacker and storage – tasks there by the coordination of their developing pedagogues. Ornaments and commodities made by them can also be purchased at the annually organized Christmas and Easter markets in the centre of the company.
Besides the patronized people of Janka Tanya, the store chain helps the youngsters of its other two partner organisations: thanks to the company, the patronized people of Rain Man Foundation for the Autistic People of Vas County and the Foundation for Autistic Children of Zala County also get the chance to integration. Beyond helping the youngsters of Tótvázsony, Vas and Zala counties, the company pays a great attention to the integration and long-term employment of its colleagues with changed work capacity: it organizes awareness-raising trainings for the employees and applies an equal opportunity rapporteur. The store chain provides for more than ten years sales points to Szerencsejáték Zrt., by which lottery tickets can be bought in almost a hundred super- and hypermarkets from people with changed work capacity.
The company received firstly in 2010 the Disability-Friendly Workplace recognition, since then, it was awarded with the recognition at every turn.
Helping the market entry of Hungarian farmers, agricultural entrepreneurs and food industry producers
The initiative being realized within the professional cooperation of SPAR and Agricultural Marketing Centre is exceptional in the domestic trade, which initiative supports the Hungarian product innovations. In the Hungaricool by SPAR competition, the organizers searched for creative food products that also consider sustainability. The new and creative products with original flavour combinations are available from the end of March 2020 in the selection of all of the current 34 INTERSPAR hypermarkets and in the SPAR online shop as well. This support has an increased importance for domestic businesses endeavouring to the market in the period of coronavirus pandemic.
In 2021, the store chain continues its product competition by joining to the prime time popular business show „Among Sharks” of RTL Klub, in which internationally recognized investors will evaluate the innovations.
Fundraising and collecting pet food for animals
SPAR Hungary offers food products of its super- and hypermarkets that become superfluous, cannot be placed on the market anymore or are withdrawn from the market to such organizations, associations, zoos and wildlife parks that deal with the caring and saving of animals. In 2020, it gave such products in a quantity of 2500 tonnes to more than 100 organizations.
In addition to the issues above, the company also supports civil organizations working for pets, in which its main partner is for nearly a decade the National Animal Protection Foundation. In the coordination of the foundation, almost 60 animal protection organizations collect food for pets in the SPAR and INTERSPAR stores nationwide. The customers donated last year for dogs 8046 kg of dry dog food, 4507 pieces of canned food and 259 pieces of salami, and for the cats 1361 kg of dry cat food and 7415 pieces of canned food. The cats can be particularly happy: the quantity of canned and wet food purchased for them has doubled compared to the previous year.
