Christmas Charity Market initiated by volunteers from high school “Zinca Golescu”

The first step of this volunteering activity was marked by the creativity workshops which were specially designed for the hand-made Christmas cards. These workshops took place during November as an extracurricular activity, with the presence of 20 students from the school.
Not only students but also parents were involved in this pleasant but demanding activity. They decorated some boxes and candles using the napkin technique and donated the original items to the charity market.
Using their own imagination and Internet resources the volunteers created about 70 cards using such materials as paper, colored paper, buttons, crayons, glue guns and thread.
The second step was run at Special Kindergarten “Sfanta Elena”, Pitesti, where ACES volunteers jumped in the unfortunate children’s unknown world through an artistic moment with Christmas carols. These carols established an emotional bond between the two groups present there, making the workshop even more productive considering the connection between the volunteers and the kids.
Through this activity, ACES volunteers contributed to the development of the socialization and communication ability of the kids with special needs and they also made those kids’ integration in society easier. During the workshop, the students collected information about some of the children in order to write their impressive life stories which would be published in the project brochure whose purpose is to make the disadvantaged groups’ stories public. This is what the project “CAN and HELP” aims at.
Being motivated by the wonderful time spent with the special needs kids, the volunteers from Zinca Golescu high school made about 100 Christmas cards and looked for a serious partner, such as a hypermarket where they could organize the fundraising activity.
After being given the chance to set up a stand during the Christmas market held at Carrefour hypermarket, part of the ACES team went there one day before the market opening in order to display all the cards created previously, the project poster and the kindergarten banner.
The Christmas Charity Market lasted from 10 am till 6 pm. All the ACES team members participated in this action accompanied by some volunteers. As a result at 6 pm there was nothing left at the stand.
It was a special event in which all the volunteers were emotionally involved and where the partnership between both educational institutions was fortified. Thus, while developing their civic and entrepreneurial spirit, ACES volunteers can simultaneously express their solidarity to special needs children.