Award for Best partnership between business and NGO – SG Expressbank and Karin Dom
At an official ceremony in Sofia, Societe Generale Expressbank and Karin Dom Foundation were awarded with first place in the category for best partnership between business and an NGO at the 10th annual “Together” awards with the “Workshop for Civic Initiatives” Foundation. The two institutions’ mutual project “Support a Family”, won in one of the most popular categories, with most nominations. All the nominees are of high social importance. “Support a Family” received most votes from a professional jury, composed by nine member commission of experts in different fields with Chairman Constantine Penchev, Ombudsman of the Republic of Bulgaria.
The partnership between the two institutions begins in 2007 and the “Support a Family” project starts in 2011. Thanks to the program, children with special needs and their families can get therapeutic treatment and trainings. The parents get guidance and become more confident as to how to stimulate the development of their children, how to focus on the child’s strength. With mutual efforts of both institutions, the children receive support that gives them better opportunities for socializing during their early development.
„I’m so thrilled that our partnership with Karin Dom is pointed as worthy for first place among the nominated projects for best partnership between business and an NGO. From the name of the bank, we sincerely thank the Foundation for the efforts that we make together during the past years, in search of better acceptance for the children with special needs in society. I believe that we are one step closer to success and this award proves that we are headed in the right direction.” Those words were shared by Maya Klevtsova – Head of Public Relations at Societe Generale Expressbank.
Since the start of the initiative, 103 children and their families were included infrom 30 places from the country (the data is until March 2015). During this period there were 1171 therapeutic sessions with professionals (speech therapist, psychologist, rehabilitator), 117 consultations with social worker and pediatrician as well as 66 sessions with a clinical psychologist and psychotherapist. The general number of the sessions in “Toy Library” is 251. During the years, Karin Dom receives financial support not only by the bank but also by its employees who annually make personal donations and organize internal campaigns for additional fund raising.
With the “Together” awards, “Workshop for Civic Initiatives” Foundation has the goal of marking the serious efforts of the civic organizations, with creation and responsibility for its donors to raise funds and receive local support, long term and beneficial partnership of non-government organizations with corporative donors, successful uniting of resources and the realizing change in people’s lives. The awards are also for the individual donors, who made a strategic choice of cause and are engaged in a long term with it.
