ESC: Volunteer in the shelter working with elderly and people in need

ADRA Czech Republic is a humanitarian and development organization that helps people in need, both in the Czech Republic and the world. We are part of an international network of ADRA organizations which operates in more than 100 countries. We provide emergency humanitarian aid (not only) during natural disasters and help to improve the living conditions of people struggling with poverty. Our volunteering centres, located across the Czech Republic, connect those willing to help with those who need it (the elderly, the disabled and other groups). We also focus on global development education. We are here to help, you and us together, since 1992.

The international network of ADRA (Adventist Development and Relief Agency) organizations was founded in the United States in 1956 by the Seventh-day Adventist Church. The church supports our development and activities on a regular basis. Having offices all around the world as well as an emergency fund allows us to quickly react to natural disasters, immediately mobilize resources and start helping wherever it is needed. In our long term projects, we count on the knowledge of our local colleagues to get insight into the needs of the people we are helping and the environment they live in. This allows us to boost the efficiency and overall sustainability of our projects.

The Czech branch of ADRA came to life in 1992. The proceeds from the first financial and humanitarian fundraising campaign were sent to Yugoslavia, then tormented by war. Since the early 1990s, we have helped millions of people in more than 60 countries, all thanks to the generosity of our donors. In the Czech Republic, we have founded a network of volunteering centres which, through an ever-growing community of volunteers, brings joy into the lives of lonely seniors, children, people with disabilities or people who struggle with illness. The volunteering centres also run our charity shops. People can donate clothes, toys and other items and the profit from selling them comes to support the volunteering centres.

In the Czech Republic, we are one of the largest coordinators of help during floods and other natural disasters. We have been actively lending a hand since 1997, when massive floods hit a large part of Moravia, in the east part of the country. Besides our volunteering activities and the financial and material aid we provide, we focus on making sure that people that have been affected by disasters receive the psychosocial support they need. That is what our Community Intervention Teams, known as ‘KIP Teams’ in Czech, are here for.

Since 2006, we also focus on global development education. Global topics such as migration, poverty, or climate change become issues that affect the everyday lives of people in the Czech Republic too, as the world grows more interconnected. We address these matters and connections in schools, with the younger generation, as well as with the general public, striving to convey the message that we are all responsible for the world we live in.