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As part of the Lawyer of the Year award ceremony, we handed over a charity cheque of CZK 150,000 to the non-profit organisation Dobrá rodina (Good Family) for its project to help Ukrainian orphans. As part of its initiative, the organisation managed to get 54 orphans from the war-affected areas of Zhytomyr to the Czech Republic after weeks of difficult work, negotiations, administration and transport. “We are negotiating the evacuation of other Ukrainian children without families, for whom we are able to provide accommodation and care in the Czech Republic. The wave that has risen in recent weeks, the power of humanity, completely disarms us, is a strong motivation for us and gives us energy,” said Zdeněk Soudný, director of the organisation Dobrá rodina.
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As part of the Czech Bar Association’s “Attorneys for Ukraine” project, we contributed CZK 500,000 for social, health and humanitarian purposes.
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We donated CZK 50,000 to the organisation Člověk v tísni (People in Need) to help Ukrainian refugees in the Czech Republic. In Slovakia, we distributed EUR 10,000 (CZK 250,000) equally between two non-profit organisations. Five thousand euros were used by the non-profit organisation Človek v ohrození (People in Need) for border assistance, humanitarian aid in Ukraine, and long-term integration activities in Slovakia for Ukrainian citizens who remained in Slovakia after fleeing their homes. The same amount will be distributed by TPDS (Teacher Development Program Slovakia) as part of a grant call to schools to provide equipment, material support and services for pupils and students who have been forced to leave Ukraine and are being integrated into education in schools in Slovakia..
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As part of our Academy, we donated the proceeds from a seminar on the impact of war to the organisation Červený kříž (Red Cross), which provides medical supplies, medicines and ambulances in Ukraine. We supported it with CZK 87,000.
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We have introduced “voluntary admission” to some of our events and through Darujme.cz we help food banks that provide food and basic hygiene supplies. The Czech Federation of Food Banks, through its regional branches and then other non-profit organisations, buys and distributes food to those who need it most at the moment, i.e., war refugees from Ukraine.
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Through the Ukrainian Embassy, we also sent several computers, 50 mobile phones and other electronic equipment to help Ukraine.
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We are helping a maternity centre set up in Prague for refugee mothers with young children – we are organising collections of clothing, electronics, drugstore products and cosmetics, children’s toys and school supplies. Financially, organizationally and through pro-bono legal advice, we help refugees find accommodation or work, place their children in schools and kindergartens, and arrange for delivery of medicines to Ukraine.
During the Sportisimo Half Marathon in Prague in April, we put a spring in our step and the run was a breeze when we thought of the non-profit organisations Zdravotní klaun (Clowndoctor), Loono, Dobré víly dětem (Good Fairies for Children) and Dětský domov Dolní Počernice (the Dolní Počernice Children’s Home), which we supported financially thanks to this event.
During the run for Světluška we ran another hundreds of kilometres under the night sky. Forty of our male and female colleagues ran in HAVEL & PARTNERS colours.
Three non-profit organisations and civic associations helping children and people suffering from mental disorders received a total of EUR 3,000 (CZK 75,000) from us. At the Forbes Top Covers gala evening in Slovakia, HAVEL & PARTNERS donated EUR 1,000 each to the association Deti s rakovinou (Children with Cancer), the association Buddy, which supports children who cannot grow up in their families, and the same amount to Liga pre duševné zdravie (League for Mental Health).
Right in the present times, in the context of the conflict in Ukraine, we are aware of the need to constantly recall important moments in history so that we can learn from them, remember them and have hope for a better future.
We are therefore pleased to have been able to support, through pro bono legal and tax advice, the Bell #9801 initiative, which recalls the silenced bells during World War II and aims to replace them with a new powerful sound.
This is because thousands of bells disappeared from the country during the occupation, were taken away and then melted down to make weapons. There were 9,801 of them in total. Now a new bell is to be created that will weigh exactly 9,801 kilograms – that’s 1 kilogram in the new bell for every one that disappeared. It will then symbolically stand on the Rohanský ostrov island, the place where the bells were taken from. You can support the The Bell #9801 initiative through a public collection.
