Student volunteers (left to right) Nada Ivanek, Jelena Pesic and Iva Stankovic helped in the pediatric ward of the local hospital by feeding the children, telling them stories, and playing games with them during the second day of ACT ON activities.
A-SMYLE alumni Aleksandar Cakic ’09 and Teodora Tasic ’09 kicked off the month of March with a project they called “ACT ON.” With the help of about 25 volunteers, including fellow alumni Kristina Koprivica ’07 and Nikola Jovanovic ’08, Cakic and Tasic brought volunteerism to Leskovac.
The two-day project began with volunteers cleaning up trash and litter from in front of the local high school, the elementary school yard, and a nearby park. News media attended the day’s events and interviewed participants about their activities.
The next day, volunteers spent the morning in the local hospital, where they were assigned different tasks such as calling out patients’ names, helping patients get to their assigned rooms, caring for patients as they were able, and cleaning the hallways.
That afternoon, the volunteers gathered at the Culture Center to set up for an exhibition of photographs taken by students depicting their travel experiences. These photographs were available for purchase, with proceeds going to the local school for children with special needs. Cakic and Tasic opened the exhibition that evening—Cakic with a speech and Tasic with a song. More than 3150 dinari were raised.
ACT ON was funded 10% by an A-SMYLE alumni small grant and 90% by local sponsors. The organizers hope to make this an annual event in Leskovac and perhaps even expand to a national level.