B92 wins VIRTUS Award

B92 was on Saturday presented with VIRTUS Award for Support for the Most Innovative Project of the Year for its “Food for Enclaves“ campaign. The award was assigned by Balkan Community Initiatives Fund. B92 wins VIRTUS Award Other companies, winners of VIRTUS award in other categories are the following: Erste Bank – Main Award for Contribution on the National Level and for Volunteering, Telenor – Award for Long-term Partnership with UNICEF, Holcim – Award for Contribution to the Local Community and Company Sunce Marinkovic in the category of Small and Medium-size Enterprise. Humanitarian campaign „Food for Enclaves“ was launched back in February 2011 and is still ongoing. During this campaign, B92 Fund, with the help of numerous donors, secured most necessary food supplies needed for uninterrupted functioning of the soup kitchens, as well as raised funds for providing future functioning of soup kitchens in the enclaves of the Kosovsko Pomoravlje District. The campaign “Food for Enclaves“ has gone one step further from its core campaign “Food for Everyone”, that during 2010 helped the work of a dozen soup kitchens on the territory of Serbia, focusing primarily on the target group that lives in Kosovo enclaves in a very difficult conditions. The minimal needs of the life-threatened population of 40,000 residents of Kosovo enclaves have been satisfied by the work of six soup kitchens which, under the patronage of Eparchy of Raska and Prizren, has been established by the NGO Majka devet Jugovica. B92 Fund, eager to assist the people who live and work in these extremely difficult conditions, had decided to invest funds and its reputation into rehabilitation of the soup kitchens project in Kosovsko Pomoravlje District by providing its safe functioning till the summer of 2012. Apart from delivering large number of food supplies, during this year, the project of developing self-sustainability of soup kitchens has been launched. Namely, the goal of the project “Food for Enclaves“ is not just a single donation, but establishment of the self-sustainable system through combining the development of food manufacturing, state assistance and collective social solidarity. During 2012, B92 Fund will focus its activities on helping soup kitchens in Kosovo enclaves to develop a specific model of social enterprises that would, apart from securing food for those in need, offer to the people living in Kosovsko Pomoravlje District a new life perspective, within the model of self-sustainable agricultural manufacture. “More than 40,000 citizens of Kosovsko Pomoravlje District and the enclaves are forgotten people and they still feel like they are forsaken. Practically, no one fights for their rights and freedom. When we got their appeal to help at the beginning of 2011, when they were faced with the danger of shutting down soup kitchens, we have very quickly focused all our efforts in solving this problem, but we have simultaneously launched a project of establishing self-sustainable system of soup kitchens as it is expected for the circumstances to get even worse, causing large number of people living on the verge of existence within this region. I hope that in the course of next year, we will contribute to major number of products necessary for the operation of soup kitchens to be produced exactly where their beneficiaries are situated. Moreover, if the beneficiaries themselves take part in the production process, we will have double gain. I believe that the only solution is the development of communities in a way that the Jews used to do in Israel, through establishing and developing kibbutz. They have, thus, both preserved their identity and made economic foundation for making their community self-sustainable. We should try to do something like that in this case“, B92 Fund President Veran Matic said after receiving the VIRTUS Award for corporate philanthropy which was presented for the fifth time this year. Veran Matic is seen after receiving the award

B92 wins VIRTUS Award

Other companies, winners of VIRTUS award in other categories are the following: Erste Bank – Main Award for Contribution on the National Level and for Volunteering, Telenor – Award for Long-term Partnership with UNICEF, Holcim – Award for Contribution to the Local Community and Company Sunce Marinković in the category of Small and Medium-size Enterprise.

Humanitarian campaign „Food for Enclaves“ was launched back in February 2011 and is still ongoing. During this campaign, B92 Fund, with the help of numerous donors, secured most necessary food supplies needed for uninterrupted functioning of the soup kitchens, as well as raised funds for providing future functioning of soup kitchens in the enclaves of the Kosovsko Pomoravlje District. The campaign “Food for Enclaves“ has gone one step further from its core campaign “Food for Everyone”, that during 2010 helped the work of a dozen soup kitchens on the territory of Serbia, focusing primarily on the target group that lives in Kosovo enclaves in a very difficult conditions.

The minimal needs of the life-threatened population of 40,000 residents of Kosovo enclaves have been satisfied by the work of six soup kitchens which, under the patronage of Eparchy of Raška and Prizren, has been established by the NGO Majka devet Jugovica. B92 Fund, eager to assist the people who live and work in these extremely difficult conditions, had decided to invest funds and its reputation into rehabilitation of the soup kitchens project in Kosovsko Pomoravlje District by providing its safe functioning till the summer of 2012.

Apart from delivering large number of food supplies, during this year, the project of developing self-sustainability of soup kitchens has been launched. Namely, the goal of the project “Food for Enclaves“ is not just a single donation, but establishment of the self-sustainable system through combining the development of food manufacturing, state assistance and collective social solidarity. During 2012, B92 Fund will focus its activities on helping soup kitchens in Kosovo enclaves to develop a specific model of social enterprises that would, apart from securing food for those in need, offer to the people living in Kosovsko Pomoravlje District a new life perspective, within the model of self-sustainable agricultural manufacture.

“More than 40,000 citizens of Kosovsko Pomoravlje District and the enclaves are forgotten people and they still feel like they are forsaken. Practically, no one fights for their rights and freedom. When we got their appeal to help at the beginning of 2011, when they were faced with the danger of shutting down soup kitchens, we have very quickly focused all our efforts in solving this problem, but we have simultaneously launched a project of establishing self-sustainable system of soup kitchens as it is expected for the circumstances to get even worse, causing large number of people living on the verge of existence within this region. I hope that in the course of next year, we will contribute to major number of products necessary for the operation of soup kitchens to be produced exactly where their beneficiaries are situated. Moreover, if the beneficiaries themselves take part in the production process, we will have double gain. I believe that the only solution is the development of communities in a way that the Jews used to do in Israel, through establishing and developing kibbutz. They have, thus, both preserved their identity and made economic foundation for making their community self-sustainable. We should try to do something like that in this case“, B92 Fund President Veran Matić said after receiving the VIRTUS Award for corporate philanthropy which was presented for the fifth time this year.