Here we are at yet another moment to celebrate kindness and be grateful for the amazing people who are such an inspiration that it’s an absolute must to spread the word! Let’s meet our next volunteer:

In our family, volunteering started about 15 years ago, when my husband, Mircea Ilie, together with 2 other colleagues, founded ViitorPlus, the association for sustainable development, an NGO that runs environmental education programs, social entrepreneurship, afforestation, reuse and recycling, environmental volunteering, eco-tourism, construction of solar panels.

We participate with the whole family in the planting activities organized by ViitorPlus, spring, and autumn, every year, since our children were 1 year and 5 years old.

Our daughter, Maria, also started volunteering at “Ajungem Mari” this year and works with a 5th grade boy in math lessons. She is very happy with it and tells me that it is going well!

Why did I choose to do this? First of all, my husband’s passion for volunteering was a real inspiration for me and, secondly, because I like working with children.

The children in the centers are eager to interact, to share their fears, joys, emotions with the volunteers. We don’t just do homework, we also talk about what they have done, what they have read, about visits to parents, about siblings, about school, about their passions.

I am very happy when they open up to me and tell me stories or when they ask me: “When are you coming, madam?”

The benefits of family volunteering are immense. First of all, the activities done together strengthen the family relations and then we manage to transmit to our children some values ​​through facts, not only through words. And we get to know a lot of nice people.

Elena Ilie – volunteering with her husband

* Ajungem Mari is a programme developed by the Lindenfeld Association in Romania, designed to support education for children and youngsters from foster care centres and from disadvantaged environments.