"Knowing what is good is not enough, we also have to love it.
It is not enough to love good, we must also do it with enthusiasm."
This quote from Confucius inspired nearly four dozen volunteers who decided to improve the environment at the dog shelter in Haniska near Košice on Saturday, June 22. Enthusiastic people with a desire to help could be recognized from a distance by their distinctive colored T - shirts with the logo "Steelmakers for Košice :)". Volunteers were welcomed at the eighteenth edition of the event by the director of the shelter, Romana Šerfelová. After the opening words and presentation of the activities, the volunteers were divided into teams and focused on their work.
The team of carpenters was led by Alexander Bartsch who was assisted by Martin Mičura, Ľubomír Račko, and Michal Dečo. This group built and installed a new dog shelter in the paddock and repaired the planks on the bridge over the creek. The firewood was sawn and stored in the shed by Gabriel Holub.
The task of the “girls power” team was to treat the new prisms and slats with a protective coating for further processing and restore the old coatings. Silvia Gaálová, vice president for financing and head of the Women's Network in USSK, which organizes the volunteer day at the shelter, was "in charge" here. She commented enthusiastically about the volunteer activities: "Here in the shelter, the steelmakers exchanged their work duties for charitable activities. We participate in this great event regularly. This is the third year when the shelter is under patronage of the Women's Network. It’s fantastic atmosphere here."
"Volunteering is a combination of pleasant and useful," adds another member of this team, Brigita Kurucová, director of the vice president's office for information technology, who came to the volunteer day together with her sixteen-year-old daughter Karolína.
The renewed coatings of the shelters, benches and tables in the volunteer zone shined under the skillful hands of Eva Durzóová, Silvia Šulcová, Martina Malegová, Andrea Petrušová, Ivana Čorbová and Mária Ferčáková, who also brought material help for the volunteers' day – dog food.
Another group of volunteers was engaged in the preparation of the terrain by mowing and raking. The mowing was done by Róbert Rick who skilfully mowed the overgrown greenery on the bank of the stream. His wife Andrea helped him with digging. Their eleven-year-old daughter Miriamka also took part in the day of volunteers and walked the dogs together with twelve-year-old Elka Petrušová and twenty-year-old Dáška Račková.
Another powerful pair of "mowing and raking" was Erika Linkeschová and her friend Peter. They contributed to the beautification of the relaxation zone.
Marianna Bartschová made a cut through the overgrown bushes around the sidewalk. Her five-year-old son Samko was this year's youngest volunteer.
Cleaning up the waste from behind the farm building was the task of another team: Ivan Ľapin, Adam Dudič assisted by his fifteen-year-old son Gregor, as well as Eva Poláková, Edita Kunáková, Laura Tomašovičová and her friend Martin. To the brim filled container was the amazing result of this working group.
Strong men assisted the group led by Július Lang, Vice President of Sales and Technical Customer Service. Together with the hockey players of HC Košice, they adjusted the entrance to the dog run with sprinkled gravel.
The new gate and fence at the entrance to the paddock were anchored by Juraj Sabol, and Marek Manica. The result of this team exceeded expectations.
"I am very grateful that volunteer days exist. Without them, we would not have done such massive piece of work. Thank you to everyone who arrived here and helped," Romana Šerfelová, director of the civil association Mutual Aid of People and Dogs, spared no words of thanks.
Volunteers at the shelter are a group of active people who contribute to improving the lives of abandoned dogs and make the work of their caregivers easier.
And they act with enthusiasm!
Photo gallery: Ján Kisucký
