Then one word came to my mind - volunteering
Then one word came to my mind - volunteering
During my active working life, I have been meeting mostly people who passed around their positive energy. And I'm grateful to them for being able to move forward. I didn't think about it then and I took everything for granted. After retiring, after a while, I began to realize some kind of emptiness, the feeling that it was not all over yet, that I should start paying back my debts. Debts to all those people who passed on to me that positive energy. Mostly I did not even thank them at the time, nor did I even realize that they had changed me with their attitude, a small gesture or with an ordinary word. Then one word came to my mind - volunteering. The choice was probably decided by the fact that my childhood friend was a co-founder of the non-profit organization Doma u Kapucínov (At Home with the Capuchins). At the beginning, I liked the role of the distributor the most, but at the moment I help as a food packer.
Edo
It is a new experience to learn to be “at home” at myself at first
Volunteering at Doma u Kapucínov came in my way itself. On the night train to Košice with Majka, who told me more about what it was about. And so it began. The first experience with packing packages and later a delivery, which I will not forget. To see the reality in which clients live. Friends left me alone with one client for a while and they went to deliver the packages to others. It was a moment for a talk, to listen about her pains, worries, and about what was bothering her. Then some time passed again and I joined the social workers.
What this volunteering gives me is a new experience of learning to be "at home" with myself at first (inside myself), and thus to come out of myself and be close to those who need it the most.
Jana
Nejedná sa o charitu, ktorá iba dáva potraviny
My name is Pete and I have been working as a distributor at Doma u Kapucínov since April 2018. My task is to deliver to our clients a package of food once a month, which will be prepared for them by my colleagues food packers in the storehouse. I have decided for this non-profit after I understood that it is not a charity that only gives food. Our social workers actively take care of our clients, they try to help them in various difficult life situations. In return, clients have to cooperate and actively participate in resolving their situations, otherwise we will end the assistance.
I am glad that I can be a part of the project that makes sense not by giving food, but above all it is trying to improve the lives of our clients together with their own effort.
Peťo
Then I tell myself that it would be good to have wing
My name is Vilma. My job at Doma u Kapucínov is to work in a storehouse. This means receiving food from donors, storing it, sorting it by the expiration date and recording it. I like this job, I relax mentally doing it and at the same time I have a good feeling that I can serve others. Sometimes I also experience comic situations when unloading, it is mainly before the holidays, when there are more donors, so we have a full storage of food and you can't walk in there at all. Then I tell myself that it would be good to have wings. So far, it has always been possible to sort food even without wings. I believe that this work makes sense for others and for me too.
Vilma
I have found a group of people with the same desire to help
Hi, my name is Barbora and I have been working at Doma u Kapucínov as a volunteer social worker during the last year. At a time when I knew I wanted to devote myself more and more to the social work I had studied, a Facebook link caught my eye. At the time, for me an unknown non-profit organization was looking for volunteers. I didn't hesitate and called. The non-profit Doma u Kapucínov gave me space to do what essentially fulfills me. For me, volunteering means a service that gives me more than it takes. I have found a group of people with the same desire to help and move the lives of others forward. I have found friends I can turn to in any situation. We educate ourselves, organize joint activities and support each other. If you have such a base of people around you, then it is easier for you to spread the good further around and be here for those who need it.
Barbora
I have to say that sometimes I felt ashamed
Hi, my name is Martin and I have been working at Doma u Kapucínov as a distributor for more than 4 years. Many people think that people who need our help are to be blamed for their situation themselves. But throughout this whole time I could see how different life situations can dramatically change your standard of living. I have to say that sometimes I felt ashamed of what kind of problems I was dealing with in my head. But I have also experienced many happy moments which the families shared with me and my colleague in delivery. So it is enrichment on both sides. "One person can change the world, but he can't do it alone." Hold on!
Martin
I have met amazing, clever and talented people here
I am in charge of fundraising at Doma u Kapucínov, which includes communication and donor management and financing of the NGO. I get a lot of information through networking with foreign volunteering and communicating with other non-profits. Fundraising is for me a combination of communication and meeting new people, and then connecting to the amazing idea and message that Doma u Kapucínov brings.
I perceive the organization as a real DOMA = AT HOME not only for the people in need to whom we help but also for the volunteers. As in life and also at home, I experienced a lot of difficult moments here, but it also brought me a lot of nice, humorous and joyful moments. I have met amazing, clever and talented people here, each of them is a gift to me and the relationships I have here are very valuable to me and I am incredibly grateful for them.
Angie
When giving packages to people I am interested in how they are doing
My name is Peter. I have been a volunteer at Doma u Kapucínov as a distributor for the second year. When giving packages to people, I am interested in how they are doing, what is going on in their lives and what they want to share. Sharing their life events is important because in this way it is possible to help them more effectively.
I have got into volunteer service after deciding to devote part of my free time to meaningful activities in the form of service to other people.
I am glad that Doma u Kapucínov organizes professional seminars on social topics. They contribute to the deepening of knowledge necessary for effective work with a person in an unfavorable life situation. I am also happy that the seminars provide a space for contact with other volunteers.
Peter
We wanted to connect nice words with nice deeds
Hi, my name is Veronika and I have been a volunteer at Doma u Kapucínov almost since the beginning of the organization. I'm in charge of food packaging. I have got to the service through my Bible group at the time, in which we decided that we would like to connect nice words with nice deeds. And so, for a while, we exchanged our group meeting room for a food storehouse once a month.
Doma grew close to my heart, I liked the idea of the whole project, focusing on the layer of "invisibly poor", whose poverty lies mainly in loneliness, lack of leadership and good examples from their own family, in helplessness against authorities, abuses that rob people of dignity and lead them to the edge of existence. Being able to participate at helping to these people in a way that not only feeds, but mainly leads to independence and responsibility, is something what I am still here for. And still more also for the community and the relationships we create / learn to create and we move forward and enrich each other. Just like DOMA = AT HOME :-).
Veronika
People in need have my admiration for their daily fight for a better life
Hi, my name is Mike. I got acquainted with the non-profit Doma u Kapucínov about four years ago, when before Christmas I contributed by buying food to the project Magic Table. After another collection, in which I also involved people around me, I told myself that I could do a little bit more for a good cause. And so it all began. I was originally engaged in food packaging in our storehouse. However, my private matters forced me to take a break and on my return a call came to work in a marketing team and to help present our organization on Instagram. People in need have my admiration for their daily fighting for a better life. Thanks to this work I often realize how happy I am for what I have in my life.
Mišo
I am glad that I can be a part of something very targeted
My name is Simona and I have been a volunteer at Doma u Kapucínov as a distributor for 4 years. I was prompted to do so by the departure of a man I had never met in person, but subconsciously I still sensed his footsteps; it's Anton Srholec. When he left, he left a message to the people not to bring flowers to his funeral, but rather to do a good deed. I took it literally and we managed to financially support the seller of Nota Bene magazine. As part of this, I learned that my long-time friend Beatka works as a volunteer at Doma u Kapucínov and together with the organization she gave a helping hand to the seller in the form of a food package. And so, for the first time, I learned about the project that appealed to me from the first moment and I'm glad that I can be a part of something very targeted, concrete, something that helps not because you deserve it, but because you need it.
Simona
Many of them were pushed beyond a restful sleep line with a fear of a new morning
The Capuchins' care for the poor and needy is a significant feature of our charism.
The Capuchins' care for the poor and needy is a significant feature of our charism.
I see the project Doma u Kapucínov as a great idea with a team of enthusiastic experts. I am impressed by the focus on the invisible group of socially weaker people and families. Many of them were pushed by the circumstances or an uncompromising social line beyond a restful sleep line with a fear of a new morning. The group is also completed by people with a reduced threshold of responsibility or weathered work habits. The project is intended to serve people who themselves desire the change, but also those whom we want to accompany along the way and teach responsibility for a bread crumb or a check paid on time. And all this through the hands of volunteers and those who are not indifferent to the care for human needs.
br. Norbert, Capuchin
