No Poverty

In the context of International Volunteer Day, we organized a week of social contribution and solidarity

According to the Harvard Business Review, volunteering has a stronger impact on participants when they feel that the time they spend and the effort they put into actively contributing to tackling a problem. On the occasion of International Volunteer Day for Economic and Social Development (5/12), wanting to support as many social groups as possible, we organized a Community Week, as part of the corporate volunteering program "Be The Hero".

Solidarity actions throughout Greece

From 2 to 7 December, we organized a series of volunteering initiatives in collaboration with institutions and organizations throughout Greece. Our employees enthusiastically embraced this Community Week, with over 80% participation in the various actions we implemented in collaboration with institutions and organizations throughout Greece.

More specifically:

• We created Christmas decorations and gifts, which were donated to the Christmas bazaar of the organization in order to support therapeutic programs, at the Chatzipaterio Rehabilitation Center for Children with Disabilities
• We prepared Christmas Cookie Boxes, which were offered through Wise Greece to 50 families, beneficiaries of the Social Grocery of the Municipality of Chalandri, for the holidays
• We painted more than 150 square meters of walls in the living area of the elderly at the Athens Nursing Home, improving the organization's infrastructure, while participating in a celebration with music and dance
• We completed the sorting and grouping of recyclable materials and created carpentry, sewing and weaving works in the workshops of the  "Theotokos" Foundation. At the same time, we decorated common areas of the foundation for Christmas
• We gathered at the public market of Ampelokipi, where, in collaboration with Boroume, we collected 610 kgs of unsold products, equivalent to 1,830 portions of food. We forwarded the products to the City of Athens Reception and Solidarity Center, while contributing to the fight against food waste, in collaboration with Boroume
• We dismantled old constructions outside the structure of the SOS Children's Village of Thrace, in Alexandroupolis, so that new, more modern ones could be placed in their place.

Through these six voluntary actions of social contribution and solidarity, we stood by our fellow human beings in need, but also in organizations that perform important work. With a positive mood, we completed more than 350 hours of volunteer work and gave joy, care and love together, aiming to make our world a little better.

Impact on society and the environment

The corporate volunteering program "Be the Hero", which we are implementing for the third consecutive year, places employees at the center, putting into practice the fundamental principle of social return. The strategic goal of the program is to create a positive impact on local communities and the environment, while inspiring a sense of social responsibility in the company's human resources. The success of "Be The Hero" is confirmed by the numerous distinctions it has received, most recently winning the Gold Award in the category "Internal Communications & Employee Engagement" at the PR Awards 2024.

We launched our initiatives in September 2022, urging our employees to become the everyday "heroes" that our fellow human beings need. Through simple daily acts of volunteering, we discover the value that social contribution and solidarity offer to ourselves. "Be the Hero" is another part of our commitment to corporate responsibility and sustainable development with over 60 cultural, social and sports initiatives annually, in local communities throughout Greece.

This Easter, we proved once again that we continue our commitment and acts of social solidarity, with practical support to vulnerable social groups

For Easter we collaborated with two organizations in order to rehabilitate children with disabilities, as well as to meet the needs of our fellow human beings. Thus, we showed in practice our solidarity, love and substantial contribution to vulnerable social groups.

Supporting "Chatzipaterio"

As in previous years, this Easter we carried out actions to support with the "Chatzipaterio" Center for Rehabilitation & Support of Children (K.A.S.P.), which provides special education, speech therapy and physiotherapy programs to children with disabilities.

After our volunteering action, during which we visited the Center and created gifts, made sweets and built educational toys, we donated, for yet another year, to all our employees candles to support their work. At the same time, we organized an Easter bazaar at our offices, where all employees were supplied with candles, decorations, toys and gifts.

Our employees responded to our call with enthusiasm, being present to procure the items, which had been made by the people and children of "Chatzipaterio". Through our contribution, we contribute to the strengthening of the educational and therapeutic programs of the institution.

Circular Economy for a good cause

In the bazaar, we also sold products we created by upcycling old merchandising items. The initiative was implemented in collaboration with Fabric Republic, an organization that through a surplus clothing management system, focuses on social needs, focusing on sustainable development.

We gathered bags, banners, flags, safety equipment and old clothes, and turned them into over 200 items of brand new accessories, such as pencil holders, bags, key rings and scrunchies. This initiative is a practical implementation of the principles of circular economy, while at the same time it gave us the opportunity to further strengthen our offer to "Chatzipaterio".

Long-term support to Institutions and Local Communities

These actions highlight our general series of initiatives with which we support our community.

With our initiatives, we confirm daily our commitment to actions that benefit society and local communities throughout the country. Our activities are fully aligned with the 17 UN Sustainable Development Goals, with this initiative being part of SDG: No Poverty.