OPENS2019 DONATION TO NOVI SAD RED CROSS

European Youth Capital Novi Sad 2019 has been actively cooperating with Novi Sad Red Cross for several years, especially through the work of its founding organisations. The significance of the cooperation has been also recognised through the project activities of OPNES, so the agreement on the cooperation between these two organisations has been signed at Novi Sad Red Cross Youth Club.

“What is important when talking about OPENS 2019 is the continuous support to young people even after next year. Therefore, it is logical that there is cooperation between OPENS2019 and Red Cross, which continuously provides support to young people, works with them, but also provides support to youth organisations. That cooperation started three years ago and it resulted in the agreement on cooperation, where we are obliged to enable even more trainings for youth organisations, that Red Cross will provide support to our large events next year and to see how we can help them have better equipment, more quality programs and to reach to a larger number of young people”, Vukašin Grozdanović, OPENS Coordinator explains.

Apart from the support OPENS provides to Novi Sad Red Cross, the significance of the cooperation has been recognised at other events and activities of OPENS too, but also of OPENS partners’ organisation. There are concrete results. Namely, through mutual cooperation of the University of Novi Sad, OPENS and Novi Sad Red Cross, more than seven thousand young students passed the training in first aid. The same training has been passed by members of the organisations – partners of OPENS, whose programs daily include several hundred young people from whole Europe. OPENS and Novi Sad Red Cross mutually participated at OPENS Lampion Festival, as well as at OPENS State of
Exit Zone. After the last year’s donation of OPENS in the form of a reanimation doll, for the training in first aid, which almost all freshmen of the University of Novi Sad passed, and after very successful results of this year’s Novi Sad Red Cross at city, province and state competitions, OPENS 2019 and Novi Sad Red Cross will continue the successful cooperation, by the donation of another reanimation doll, as well as AED device – automatic external defibrillator.

“Novi Sad Red Cross is honoured to have entered into the Agreement with European Youth Capital 2019 and that OPENS has opened its door for us. I must state that Novi Sad Red Cross has had the cooperation with the founding organisations of OPENS for some time. We will try to improve this cooperation in the future. I would like to use this opportunity to thank OPENS for the strong support to the activities of Red Cross, primarily through donations. Today’s donation, which amounts RSD 273 thousand is, apart from money, extremely valuable for the improvement of the provision of first aid”, Dragan Lazić, Novi Sad Red Cross Secretary explains.

Long-term volunteers of Novi Sad Red Cross, Miloš Gajin, Maša Mastilović, Vanja Marković and Jelena Dogandžić, members of the team which won the city and province competition, as well as participants at the state competition in the provision of first air, trained for use of AED device, presented the use of the doll for the provision of first aid at the Youth Club.