Monika Moravanská became the USS Volunteer Champion last year for volunteering activities and helping the Košice Children's Railway.
Since childhood, she was very close to trains. In the family branch from my mother's side there are many guides, train conductors... She also wanted to go to work on the railway, but it didn't work out. She works at DZ Expedition, as a manager for the operation of the cold branch I expedition, so the "trains", as she calls them, at least this is how they became part of her job.
Volunteering has always been very close to her heart. She regularly participated in various brigades organized by the kindergarten or school where her children attended, renovating playgrounds, cleaning the surroundings. She also led her children to do this, both of whom, like her, love nature, like helping others.
When she decided to volunteer for our project Metallurgists for Košice five years ago, she naturally chose the Košice Children's Railway, which was also a favorite excursion destination for the whole family. And she signed up for her daughter Michaela Janšová. Since then, they have always gone to the railway brigades together.
"I love working in nature. What I enjoy most about the railway is the renovation of wagons. I'd rather pick up a drill and a screwdriver than bake cakes, for example," she says.
Monika Moravanská is not only an active volunteer, she is also a regular blood donor and holder of the golden Janský plaketa. He regularly runs a half marathon, including at the International Peace Marathon, and participates in many charity running races.
Winning the title of Volunteering Champion is also associated with financial support of 5,000 euros for the organization. "The children's railway will definitely come in handy. It would be necessary to make drainage on Alpinka so that they do not burn the station where they sell promotional items, renovate the playgrounds. The buildings are already nice, but locomotives still need to be repaired, they are old machines, and there is always something to do about them. The money will certainly be very useful for the Children's Railway Košice," Monika Moravanská told us.
OZ Children's Railway Košice is the only operator of the children's historical railway, which is one of the most famous attractions in Slovakia. It takes care of all vehicles that belong to the railway and are inscribed in the Central List of Monuments. The most famous is certainly the Katka steam locomotive from 1884, which is the oldest operating locomotive in the V4 region and is also a symbol of the railway. The Children's Railway in Košice is the only place in Slovakia where children and teenagers can try to dispatch a train and directly participate in railway traffic management and operation. A substantial part of the organization consists of volunteers.
