On Saturday, forty volunteers came to improve the environment in the dog shelter in Haniska near Košice. Several of them with family members, including children. Together with the shelter workers, they created work teams.

Enthusiastic volunteers could be recognized by the T-shirts, which in this jubilee 20th year of the Volunteer Days had a special print depicting the locations where the volunteer day was organized.

After the introductory words of the coordinator Jana Bernátová, the director for accounting for primary and final production and the director of the shelter Romana Šerfelová, the activities were introduced. After getting acquainted with the content and place of performance of individual activities, the volunteers got to work with vigor.

The team of carpenters included Alexander Bartsch, a VKB1 regulator, and Martin Mičura, a shelter worker. This skilled, well-coordinated pair of carpenters, who regularly participate in volunteer days, made and installed a new shelter in the dog enclosure.

The new coating on the shelter was taken care of by Mariana Bartschová, an accounting economist, who was assisted by her 7-year-old son Samko, again the youngest active volunteer.

The firewood was sawn and stored in the shelter by two work teams. The first team was commanded by Slavomír Gerenda, a storekeeper of the contaminated scrolls at the SVa Health Centre, who was also there to donate blood and came to the volunteer day with his daughter Patricia. The sawn wood was stored by Eva Poláková, a data processing operator.

In the second team, the sawmill was operated by shelter worker Jaroslav Jurko and was assisted by Laura Tomašovičová, a strategy analyst and her friend Martin, who diligently brought wood for sawing and stored the sawn wood in the shelter.

The team of fitters was tasked with assembling a set of benches and tables, which will gradually replace the already "ending" seating in the relaxation zone. They performed their task excellently, assembling two such sets.

Members of this group, Ľubomír Račko, Director Data Studio Europe and Marek Manica, Director of Revenue Management, prepared well for the day of volunteers by studying the assembly instructions in advance. Katarína Fitzová, General Sales Manager for Domestic Markets, who came to the shelter with her 10-year-old daughter Petra and 16-year-old son Jakub, and Silvia Gaálová, Vice President for Financing and Leader of the Women's Network, which covers the day of volunteers in the shelter, did not lag behind their teammates with their skills. She enthusiastically commented on volunteer activities: "We are involved in volunteer work regularly, under the auspices of the Women's Network for the fifth time. During the volunteer days, there is a great atmosphere, the metallurgists carry out many beneficial activities for the shelter and new friendships are also made."

The assembled seating areas also received new coatings and were placed in a gazebo, which was cleared by regular volunteer Michal Dečo and Peter Tamáš, a laboratory technician who came to the shelter together with his wife Gabriela and 10-year-old daughter Sofia.

Throughout the day of volunteers, several dogs were walked together by Petra Fitzová and Sofia Tamášová, later  Karolína Kurucová and Dáša Račková also joined.

All handymen arrived to the volunteer day "armed" with their own tools.

Strong men's hands came together to carry the gravel to the dog enclosure. Tomáš Kuriatnik, General Manager of IT Shared Services and Keiichi Sugiyama, Director of Operational Improvement Strategy of the Hot and Cold Rolling Mill, were joined by hockey players from HC Košice Gabriel Špilár, Antonín Bartoš, Timotej Varga, Andrej Duščák, Dávid Stančík, Patrik Timko and, together with the manager of the Košice hockey club Miloslav Klíma, they exchanged fitness training in the gym for a gym directly in nature.

The renewed coatings of the shelters, benches and tables in the relaxation zone shone under the skilful hands of Brigita Kurucová, director of the office of the Vice President for Sales and Technical Customer Service, who came to the shelter with her daughter Karolína and is also in the management of the Women's Network. Petra Vnenčáková, the coordinator for special activities, who was also there to donate blood, was helped by her sons, 8-year-old Maxim and 14-year-old Patrik. Dáša Račková and Matúš Maršala also worked in this group.

The new coatings on the shelters and dog kennels directly in the enclosures were taken care of by Lucia Hlucháňová, a lawyer for contract law, who was assisted by her son Jakub, Mária Ferčáková, a transport officer and Andrea Petrušová, a specialist in Material Coding. Long-time volunteer Erika Linkeschová,  employee development coordinator, and her daughter Laura, who returned from her studies in the USA with a dog she adopted at a local shelter, also worked in this group.

Karol Fischer, a shelter worker, who skillfully mowed the grown grass, contributed to the beautification of the shelter's relaxation zone and part of the outdoor area.

Another shelter worker, Jason Bel, was involved in the renovation of the older dog kennels.

In the afternoon, the hustle and bustle of work subsided. What remained was the feeling of a job well done for a better life for the most faithful friends of man living in the local shelter.

At the end of the volunteers' day, Romana Šerfelová, director of the civic association Union of Mutual Aid of People and Dogs, which manages the local shelter, did not spare words of gratitude: "Thank you to everyone who came and helped. A great deal of work was also done during the jubilee 20th year. Thank you very much for your long-term support."

And the steelmakers will come to help again. They are already enthusiastic about the next year of the Volunteer Day in the dog shelter.

Photo gallery: Ján Kisucký and archive of  volunteers