For two consecutive years, KN (Klaipėdos nafta AB) has allocated funds to support lonely underprivileged elderly people, on behalf of the clients and partners.
Last year, the company brought joy to 40 elderly people by delivering festive packages containing various food products and chemist’s cheques. This year, the company continued the tradition inspired by philanthropic spirit by sharing goodness in the upcoming Christmas period with one of the most sensitive social groups – lonely, underprivileged elderly people.
Orinta Barkauskaitė, KN Head of communication, speaks about the initiative: “This year, we made another step forward by encouraging our employees to allocate personal time for a conversation. With the help of support service of the Order of Malta, we had the opportunity of applying to 54 old people living in Vilnius, Klaipėda and Kupiškis district, who needed the most additional help and attention, based on the assessment of the volunteers. We selected three geographical locations so all colleagues working in our bureaus and subsidiaries had the opportunity to be involved.”
The team of volunteers, formed of KN employees, contacted each elderly person to learn how each of them could find joy. Then the team created the internal platform “Let’s light the smiles” to achieve these wishes, displaying short stories about the elderly people, to encourage colleagues to contribute to realizing these dreams.
Some elderly people requested better quality food, medicine, vitamins or food supplements they can’t usually afford on their pension. Others asked for various everyday necessities such as microwaves, vacuum cleaners or a torch. Some elderly people tentatively mentioned that they would most appreciate personal time and attention, or they dreamed of visiting the seaside, returning to their native city or visiting the graves of relatives. Unfortunately, this year, we could not realize any wishes related to direct contact or travelling, due to the complex pandemic situation in the country. But the employees of KN are committed to achieving these wishes on behalf of the elderly people next year, during a better time for traveling and live meetings.
The initial idea was that KN employees will be invited to grant the elderly people’s wishes, and later the remaining unrealized wishes would be realized with the company’s funds. But the involvement of KN employees exceeded all expectations, so the allocated company funds were spent by continuing the same philanthropic line – extending the Christmas joy to more lonely and underprivileged elderly people.
O. Barkauskaitė says: “We see this project as having the added bonus of uniting the organisation, encouraging the sense of social conscience, the feeling that everyone can contribute to creating an environment that is good for everyone. At the same time, the reputation of social philanthropy is also of great value to the company.”
