Around 71 000 pieces of school supplies were donated to help families living in difficult circumstances to start school in the Joy to Give! school supplies donation campaign organised by SPAR and the Charity Service of the Hungarian Order of Malta. Supporters also purchased donation cards worth 1.4 million HUF which will be used by the charity organisation to provide stationery, schoolbooks and and other school items to those in need. On top of this, SPAR donated a further 1 million HUF to the initiative.

The “Joy to Give!” (Adni Öröm!) school supply donation campaign organised by the Hungarian Maltese Charity Service and SPAR has been successfully completed. From 21 to 24 August 2024, volunteers of the charity service collected donated school supplies in all INTERSPAR stores throughout the country: shoppers in the hypermarkets bought and donated more than 71 000 pieces of school supplies – pencils, pens, pencil sets, schoolbook sets, pencil cases, drawing sets, school bags, gym bags – for the charity campaign. The collected school supplies were used by the staff of the charity organisation to create schoolbags and gift packs full of school supplies and to distribute them to families in need.

In the other part of the campaign, from 29 July to 1 September 2024, customers could also help with donation cards in 500, 1500, 3000, 5000 and 10 000 HUF denominations purchased in the SPAR online shop and the INTERSPAR stores. The total amount of 1.4 million HUF thus donated is also exchanged by the charity service for school supplies which will be distributed to children living in difficult circumstances and to children from families with multiple disadvantages attending the “Maltese” Schools. SPAR Hungary has matched the donations with an additional 1 million HUF to ensure that even more needy pupils can receive school supplies.

“For SPAR, social responsibility and supporting noble causes have been an integral part of the corporate culture for more than 30 years. Our strategic partner in this effort has long been the Charity Service of the Hungarian Order of Malta which strives to help disadvantaged people in all regions of the country. We have been organising the “Joy to Give!” campaign for the fourth year already, and I am pleased to say that we have once again been able to help families in difficult circumstances with a significant amount of school supplies. We are very grateful to all our customers, who have once again taken action and with their selfless support are helping many children to start school,” said Márk Maczelka, head of communications at SPAR Hungary.

“We would like to thank everyone who contributed with donations. The start of the school year often forces families in difficult circumstances to make bitter choices, and donations allow us to help them through this. With the fourth Joy to Give! back-to-school campaign, we are helping more than 1600 children  who will receive the donated school supplies in the first days of the school year, and some of these will be distributed later to replace any missing items,” added Tamás Romhányi, head of communications of the Hungarian Maltese Charity Service.

For more information on the results of the donation campaign please visit the www.adniorom.hu website.

Even it is September, the heatwave has not eased so far, and it is getting harder and harder to bear the heat that has lasted for months. The shade and the cooling effect of trees and plants can significantly improve our well-being, but the animals also need green surfaces. In this spirit, the K&H animal friendly groves program turned the yards of 30 educational institutions green. The 100 square meter parks will even attract birds, butterflies and hedgehogs into the immediate environment of children. As a result, the young generation can experience the beneficial effects of plants, and thanks to the educational materials, they can learn more about the harmonious coexistence of humans and the flora and fauna.

We experienced an extremely hot summer and even in September the heat has barely eased. This is becoming more and more difficult to bear – especially in the cities. The situation is worst in inner-city areas: this is due to the so-called urban heat island effect, which means that the temperature is much higher in densely built-in downtown areas than in areas with plants. So even in the suburban areas the temperature is much more tolerable, not to mention the parts densely covered with trees. This can be traced back to the fact that green surfaces reflect solar radiation better than built-in surfaces, and also help cool the environment through evaporation. Measurements prove that while the pavement and the road can be 50-60 degrees Celsius on a sunny summer day without shade, the soil in green areas and shaded parts is only 15 degrees.

“Green surfaces play a significant role in combating climate change, but our own well-being is greatly improved even in a sort time if we surround ourselves with plants. We need trees not only in forests, but also in our immediate environment – and it is up to us how many trees and bushes we plant where we live” – said Guy Libot, CEO of K&H Group. “With our K&H animal friendly groves program, we create a small park in the yard of schools and kindergartens, where they can not only cool off in the shade, but also observe birds, insects, and hedgehogs. In addition, we also help them with educational materials so that young people can become even more familiar with the importance of the organic unity of humans, plants and animals”- he added.

The K&H animal friendly groves program was implemented in 30 kindergartens and schools across the country in the past six months. In this way, the financial institution has already turned 130 educational yards green with the professional cooperation of the 10 million Trees Foundation, since in the 2022/23 academic year 555 trees and 1110 shrubs were planted in 100 educational institutions in the K&H cooling groves program.

In the yards of the institutions participating in the K&H animal friendly groves program, a green area of ​​100 square meters was created each, consisting of 28 plants. The biodiverse parks contains birdhouses, feeders, birdbaths and hedgehog hiding places and offer attractive habitat for the animals.

The program also includes educational materials, as well as a treasure hunt game that is held by the 10 Million Trees Foundation after planting the trees and bushes with the children.