BELGRADE – On October 9, 2021, the Coalition for Giving and the Serbian Philanthropy Forum marked the fourth National Day of Giving, with support from the United States Agency of International Development (USAID), by recognizing 34 companies, 12 civil society organizations and 12 media outlets that have contributed the most to the “Save Food, Save Humanity” campaign, or supported initiatives within the campaign.
“This year’s theme of advancing food donations and reducing food waste strongly aligns with core American values and traditions that we cherish deeply and put into practice every day,” said Anthony F. Godfrey, U.S. Ambassador to Serbia.
The recognized companies have supported the National Day of Giving and the campaign through generous monetary and/or food donations which will be directed at providing packages of essential food items to Serbia’s most vulnerable citizens. Many of the organizations and companies also supported the campaign by providing media space to promote the messages and help increase public awareness of the ongoing problem of food waste. As part of the awareness raising campaign, members of the media worked with famous chefs and restaurants to prepare lunch packs for the vulnerable, while several companies invited their staff to collect food items to contribute to the initiative. While it is expected within this campaign to collect enough food to satisfy basic needs of thousands of people in the next few months, the ultimate goal is to ensure that, in the future, food donations can become a reliable source of food for those who need it.
“Wise people say that life gives us as much as we are ready to give to others, and that a wealthy person is the one who is ready and willing to help others. These are the principles on which we are building a better, humane and solidary society,” said Darija Kisić Tepavčević, Minister of Labor, Employment, Veteran and Social Policy of the Republic of Serbia.
The campaign will run until mid-November in case other interested companies or organizations wish to join and contribute.
Also, during the event organized in Ilija M. Kolarac Endowment today, five paintings created by students of the Faculty of Applied Arts have been presented. The art pieces will be gifted to the selected companies which gave the exceptional support to the campaign.
While 480,000 people in Serbia live on the edge of absolute poverty, an estimated two million kilograms of food are being wasted daily. Despite the fact that food donations are increasing, and food producers and merchants want to donate surplus food to soup kitchens, food banks and charities, the amount of food donated still makes up only a small portion of the total surplus edible food available in Serbia. An analysis conducted by the Responsible Business Forum and the Coalition for Giving shows that food donations in Serbia could increase annually by a value of nearly 160 million dinars (to a total of 700 million dinars), if the VAT on food donations were to be abolished.
“We are especially proud that so many organizations from different sectors joined the campaign and supported National Day of Giving, we are truly stronger together. However, the real difference would be made once the problem with VAT on food donations is resolved,” said Veran Matić, Executive Director, Serbian Philanthropy Forum.
Živković Samardžić Law Office received special gratitude and recognition from its long-term partners the Serbian Philanthropic Forum for its outstanding contribution to the ” Save Food, Save Humanity ” campaign.
The list of all the companies, CSOs and the media recognized today for their contribution to the campaign is available here. For more information about the “Save Food, Save Humanity” campaign, please see http://spasimohranu.rs/
The National Giving Day is part of the Framework for Giving project, supported by USAID and implemented by the Coalition for Giving, led by the Ana and Vlade Divac Foundation. Other members of the Coalition are the Trag Foundation, Catalyst Balkans, SMART Kolektiv, the Serbian Philanthropy Forum, the Responsible Business Forum, and the Serbian Chamber of Commerce and Industry.
Furthermore, you can contact Kruna Savović, Nataša Sarić, Milica Nešić for more legal information about the Coalition for Giving is calling for the abolition of VAT on food donations or any regular contacts at Živković Samardžić law office.
For more information on National Giving Day, please contact Jelena Bratić at jelena@filantropskiforum.com or +381 64 199 3114. For more information on the campaign “Let’s save food, let’s save humanity” and the Framework for Giving project, contact Dejan Drobnjak, at dejan.drobnjak@divac.com or at +381 62 77 45 43. For more information about USAID, please contact Mirjana Vukša Zavišić at mvuksa@usaid.gov or 065 316 45 30.
Nacionalni dan davanja: kompanije, NVO, mediji i građani ujedinjeni „Spašavaju hranu, spašavaju humanost“
Beograd – 9. oktobra 2021. godine Koalicija za dobročinstvo i Srpski filantropski forum obeležili su četvrti po redu Nacionalni dan davanja, uz podršku Američke agencije za međunarodni razvoj (USAID), odajući priznanja kompanijama (34), organizacijama civilnog društva (12) i medijskim kućama (12) koje su dale najznačajniji doprinos kampanji „Spasimo hranu, spasimo humanost“, ili su podržale pojedinačne inicijative u okviru kampanje.
“Ovogodišnja tema povećanja donacija hrane i smanjenja bacanja hrane potpuno je u skladu sa američkim vrednostima i običajima koje svakodnevno praktikujemo i negujemo”, rekao je Entoni Godfri, ambasador SAD u Srbiji
Kompanije koje su danas dobile priznanja su podržale Nacionalni dan davanja i kampanju velikodušnim novčanim donacijama i/ili donacijama u hrani koje će biti podeljene u vidu paketa osnovnih namirnica najugroženijim građanima u Srbiji. Mnoge od ovih organizacija i kompanija su takođe podržale kampanju ustupajući svoj medijski prostor kako bi podpomogle širenje poruka i podizanje svesti građana o problemu bacanja hrane. Kao deo kampanje zagovaranja, predstavnici medija su pripremali hranu sa poznatim kuvarima i restoranima koja je bila podeljena ugroženima, dok su neke kompanije pozvale svoje zaposlene da prikupe donacije u hrani kako bi dali doprinos ovoj inicijativi. I dok se očekuje da će u okviru ove kampanje biti sakupljeno dovoljno hrane da zadovolji osnovne potrebe hiljada građana u narednih nekoliko meseci, glavni cilj je osigurati da u budućnosti donacije hrane postanu pouzdan izvor osnovnih namirnica onima kojima su neophodne.
„Mudri ljudi su rekli da nam život pruža onoliko koliko smo spremni da pružimo drugima i da je bogat samo onaj čovek koji može i želi da pomogne drugima. Upravo na tim principima zajedno stvaramo bolje, humano i solidarno društvo”, rekla je Darija Kisić Tepavčević, ministarka za rad, zapošljavanje, boračka i socijalna pitanja.
Kampanja će trajati do sredine novembra za slučaj da ostale zainteresovane kompanije i organizacije žele da se uključe i doprinesu.
Danas su tokom događaja u Zadužbini Ilije M. Kolarca takođe bile predstavljene slike koje je uslikalo pet studenata Fakulteta primenjenih umetnosti. Ova dela mladih umetnika će biti poklonjena odabranim kompanijama koje su pružile izuzetnu podršku kampanji.
Dok u Srbiji, 480.000 ljudi živi na granici apsolutnog siromaštva, prema procenama u našoj zemlji se baca dva miliona kilograma hrane dnevno. Uprkos tome što se hrana sve više donira, a proizvođači hrane i trgovci žele da doniraju viškove hrane narodnim kuhinjama, bankama hrane i dobrotvornim organizacijama, količina hrane koja se donira i dalje čini samo mali deo u ukupnom višku jestive hrane dostupne u Srbiji. Prema analizi koju su sproveli Forum za odgovorno poslovanje i Koalicija za dobročinstvo, donacije hrane u Srbiji bi mogle da budu uvećane na godišnjem nivou za vrednost od blizu 160 miliona dinara (na ukupno 700 miliona dinara), ukoliko bi bio ukinut PDV na donacije hrane.
„Nama je posebno drago što se ove godine priključio i podržao Nacionalni dan davanja ovako veliki broj organizacija iz različitih sektora poslovanja, to pokazuje da smo zajedno jači. Ipak, najznačajniji pomak u rešavanju ovog problema bi bio napravljen ako bismo uspeli da najzad rešimo pitanje ukidanja PDV-a na donacije hrane“, rekao je Veran Matić, izvršni direktor Srpskog filantropskog foruma.
Advokatska kancelarija Živković Samardžić dobila je posebnu zahvalnost i priznanje od svojih dugogodišnjih partnera Srpskom filantropskog foruma za izuzetan doprinos kampanji „Spasimo hranu.“
Spisak svih kompanija, organizacija civilnog društva i medija koji su danas dobili priznanja za doprinos kampanji dostupan je na linku. Za više informacija o kampanji možete da posetite veb sajt: http://spasimohranu.rs/.
Nacionalni dan davanja i kampanja „Spasimo hranu, spasimo humanost“ se realizuju u sklopu Projekta za unapređenje okvira za davanje, koji podržava Američka agencija za međunarodni razvoj (USAID), a koji sprovodi Koalicija za dobročinstvo, na čelu sa Fondacijom Ana i Vlade Divac. Ostali članovi Koalicije su Trag fondacija, Catalyst Balkans, SMART Kolektiv, Srpski filantropski forum, Forum za odgovorno poslovanje i Privredna komora Srbije.
Za više pravnih informacija možete se obratiti Kruni Savović, Nataši Sarić, Milici Nešić ili vašem redovnom kontaktu u advokatskoj kancelariji Živković Samardžić.
Za više informacija o Nacionalnom danu davanja, obratite se Jeleni Bratić, na jelena@filantropskiforum.com ili na +381 64 199 3114. Za više informacija o kampanji „Spasimo hranu spasimo humanost“ i o Projektu za unapređenje okvira za davanje, obratite se Dejanu Drobnjaku, na dejan.drobnjak@divac.com ili na +381 62 77 45 43. Za više informacija o USAID-u, obratite se Mirjani Vukši-Zavišić na mvuksa@usaid.gov ili + 381 65 316 45 30.