Thursday, 3 March 2022 was another special day at the Faculty of Economics, Business and Tourism in Split. To mark the end of this year’s activities within the community service project called „Children for Children“, our students handed over a cheque for the amount of 41, 389.27 KN to representatives of the charity organization „My Child“ from Solin.

-    When you see the faces of those children at the end of this journey, you know it was all worthwhile, every single effort, every minute of it. We all feel completely fulfilled and extremely happy – says Petra Čotić, representing the student team, as children run around them excitedly.
Her colleague, Nina Stošić, this year's team leader, lays out the details of this years' project and talks about valuable experiences they gained:

-    First of all, we would like to express our gratitude to professor Smiljana Pivčević and to the Faculty for giving us the opportunity to help those that need it the most. It has been such a valuable experience and we learned much more from it than we ever could by just listening about this type of community work in theory. We would like to extend our gratitude to all sponsors and benefactors who contributed to the success of this project. We didn't expect to raise such a substantial amount, but we are delighted that we have and that the funds will go to those that really need them, concludes Nina Stošić.

To elaborate a bit on the nature of this project, let us say a few words about the background to this long-standing community service project. It all started eight years ago as part of the course in Event management when students at the study programme Tourism and hospitality were offered to do more than just write a business plan for an event. The idea was to engage with the task by designing a charity event under close supervision of their course tutor, prof. Smiljana Pivčević. The final aim was to encourage practical application of theoretical knowledge acquired in class, but also to boost students' awareness of socially responsible behaviour.

-    Every new generation of students responds even more enthusiastically than the previous one, which is a sign of increasing awareness of the need to be involved in community work. I feel immensely proud every time I approach our stand during the field activities but also when I read students’ project reports later on. They always express their pride and gratitude for having been able to help someone and for having had the opportunity to learn by doing. Even today, when I see all these children running around, my heart fills with joy because we know that we did the right thing. I'm taking this opportunity to thank this generation of students, as well as those that came before them, because they all contributed to the long-term success of this project. All of us, both the students and the teachers, truly believe that with each similar effort we manage to make this world a better place.

-    'Dear students, never forget that spark you possess inside of you and remember it when you face the challenges that life will place in front of you. Remember that hard work always pays off. Thank you all once again, and a heartfelt thank you to the organization „My Child“ for agreeing to be a part of this course project', said prof. Pivčević in her final address.

-    It is a real honour to be with you today. Here at the Faculty of Economics, Business and Tourism we strive not only to encourage learning for life, but also to instil those crucial human values in our students. I am glad to say that it has paid off. Our students are already widely recognized for their efforts in making the difference in the society because at FEBT their work is not limited to merely learning about figures, finances and balance sheets. All of us together wish to be recognized as an institution that shapes a better and brighter future, both for our local community and for the wider world. We are immensely proud of our students and of the fact that their individual and team potentials have been recognized and valued, said prof. Vinko Muštra, Dean of the Faculty of Economics, Business and Tourism.

At the end of the ceremony, the donation cheque was proudly presented to the members of the organization “My Child” from Solin, many of whom attended the event.

Proud of the job well done and of the big smiles on children’s faces, we are confident that this project will inspire more students to get involved in similar projects in the years to come. To further encourage such efforts, FEBT adopted and developed a valuable model of Service Learning by establishing the Centre for Service Learning (CSL) in 2018 as a joint effort of the FEBT and a number of civil society organizations. The key goal of CSL is to boost cooperation between higher education institutions and civil society organizations for the purpose of addressing community issues and shaping today’s young people into socially responsible and engaged citizens of the future.
With successful, long-standing projects like the one we completed on 3 March 2022, we are confident that we are on the right track.

More about “Children for Children” project

Eight generations of students at FEBT have participated so far in various activities within this project, ranging from charity concerts, sports events, entertainment events to online auctions and prize games. Resulting from those activities, students raised over 260 000 KN for various children’s charities.

Finally, the phrase “Children for Children” was selected for this project because it reminds us that all of us are children in our hearts and this is precisely what our students are aware of when they embark on project activities each year. This year it was the organization “My Child” but there are many more children out there in need of our help.

We are very optimistic about the future of this project and we have no doubt that our future generations of students will carry on the Faculty’s tradition of valuable community service.