The Day of Solidarity charity project, which
was organized during the 2011 tourist season at Istraturist's
hotels under the management of Meliá Hotels International, ended
with a social event at which the two girls from Umag for whom the
financial help is intended were present. The project raised
HRK 118,445, most of which will be spent financing
the education of Anamarija Manin and Melissa Koncar, while the
remaining amount will be donated to UNICEF, which has been Meliá
Hotels International's strategic partner since 2010. The money that
the Umag Stars for Umag Children charity project
raised during the ATP Croatia Open tennis tournament will be added
to this sum.
The Day of Solidarity is a project that Meliá Hotels International
has been organizing at its hotels around the world since 2004. The
purpose of the project is to raise awareness of the importance of
solidarity and respect for the natural environment, at the same
time raising money for programs that support projects related to
children's education and social support for children in a local
environment. In Umag, this project is organized in cooperation with
Istraturist, Meliá Hotels International and the city of Umag, and
aims to help citizens who are most in need of aid and are on the
city's priority list.
Melissa Koncar is a fifteen-year-old girl
suffering from severe bone deformity in both lower legs. In
addition, Melissa has been progressively and permanently losing
sight since fifth grade, and is at this point almost completely
blind. In view of the fact that she is about to begin high school,
where she will be educated as a secretary, Melissa will be given a
special computer for blind persons, which will help her in her
education and also be useful in her future work.
Anamarija Manin is an eight-year-old girl
suffering from cerebral palsy, and needs a personal teaching
assistant to be able to regularly and adequately follow the
curriculum. Donations raised during the Day of Solidarity project
in 2011 will be used for financing Anamarija's personal teaching
assistant, who will significantly help her with socialization and
motivation and, above all, help her to follow the curriculum and
school activities well.
The Day of Solidarity 2011 was organized at five of Istraturist's
hotels and apartment hotels: Sol Umag, Sol Garden Istra, Sol
Aurora, Sol Stella Maris and Sol Polynesia. The project began in
June and lasted until mid-September. In total, 47 Days of
Solidarity were held during the tourist season, with 47
entertainers, nearly 6,000 adult guests, 1,200 children and over
600 employees of Istraturist and Meliá Hotels International
participating. During the Days of Solidarity, the teams of
Istraturist's Activity Departments organized various activities for
children and adults, which included workshops about local culture
and the awareness of the need for protecting the environment.
With this project Istraturist continues its strategic orientation
towards improving corporate social responsibility. Internally, the
company seeks to continually invest in human capital and health and
safety of its employees, while externally it actively participates
in the life of the local community and its organizations, improving
relations with business partners and suppliers, taking care of the
environment and making donations to numerous organizations.
The Day of Solidarity 2011 and Umag Stars for Umag Children charity projects raised HRK 118,445 for Umag’s children in need