When exploring the lives of a plethora of active philanthropists cultivating their own feudal footprints on stark regions in the world, some lackluster profiles, including overly worn political and corporate career outfits, can trap once eager readers into sleeping spells. However, to rekindle the personal bond we should express for these Apostles of social good and transformation, a more colorful tale would be rare to come by than that of World Bank President Jim Yong Kim. Emigrating from the Land of the Morning Sun to the Stars and Stripes at age 5, orchestrating a duet high school athletic career as quarterback and point guard, and striking an academic foray after emerging from Harvard University as a medical doctorate. Excelling in polar arenas of talent, from the physical to mental, Kim remarkably emanates a versatile character that foretells his aptitude for moderating issues as diverse as his personal narrative. For the curious and tireless soul paralyzed at a point of inflection of how to steer their own lives, Jim Yong Kim’s outgoing spirit testifies how timeless and recognized impact on society is forged from personal devotion and dedication. While Kim manifested this ethos through his intellectual and physical pursuit during his years of studies, he wholeheartedly disseminated this principle through his sprawling NGO campaigns against public health degradation and virulent disease epidemics.

World Bank President Jim Yong Kim:

What are you willing to do to create social good?

After achieving alma mater from Harvard’s medical program, the adroit laureate deferred all hesitation from plunging into a resource and time intensive scheme to pioneer efficient treatment of tuberculosis in Honduras, and soon after Panama, through Partners in Health. The knowledge and medical expertise starved health commission in Honduras into beckoning for a metamorphosis to resuscitate it with a fresh supply of nectar. For a time, a scarcity of trained health staff and volunteers, coupled with archaic healing and diagnostic practices, muted any possibility for the delicate conditions of patients bearing latent and active tuberculosis cases. Kim’s maverick thinking ushered reforms to unravel the web clouding the prevention, treatment and rehabilitation processes, and planted a pristine set of procedures to soothe the agitating contagion. With avian agility, PIH mustered the manpower and innovations as on site diagnosis apparatuses to dissolute medicals expenditures by nearly tenfold and increase its patient base to 100,000. Duplicating the promising campaign in Panama, Kim helped weave a chrysalis in Central America, incubating the long needed changes to reach thousands of people with debilitating ailments.

After his retirement from PIH during the early 2000’s, the World Health Organization made no deliberation to commission Kim to encourage a Hyang Yuk mentality to undermine HIV/AIDS proliferation in Pan-Africa. With a grand vision to reach out to 3 million people by mid-decade, WHO’s conviction to ameliorate the medical and social implications of poor palliative care in disparate communities awarded over 7 million natives by 2012 with medical attention. Kim Yong Jim’s invocation of the Hippocratic Oath has inspired solidarity among many and not to fear towering obstacles, but tackle them resolutely.

When Kim finally left the WHO and after his Sabbath as President of Dartmouth College, Kim boldly elicited the same values with which he maneuvered his initiatives in PIH and WHO to the World Bank to sanction collective action against erratic epidemics worldwide. Kim is the type of social pioneer who does not retrench from some of the most pervasive issue of our time. His wager against Ebola’s invasion in West Africa and in the hearts of Guinea, Sierra Leone, and Liberia reminds me of the difference I or any individual could personally make in the lives of millions. It only takes a unanimous and stolid determination and belief that we can tackle the most taxing inhibitions that stand between whole populations and better mental and physical conditions. After having already committed close to $1 billion to support economic development and growth schemes in the targeted states, the Bank has injected another $300 million to staving off and quarantining Ebola cases.

Jim Yong Kim’s inauguration to guiding international institutions with the most comprehensive collaboration projects in the world, echoes his long-followed mantra of being outgoing and making the most of the mind and knowledge given to us. This way of living the life is what will make a lasting impression on not only isolated parts of the world, that we might take for granted, but also in our personal lives. Embracing an attitude towards making the most of every opportunity will rejuvenate the meaning of charity efforts worldwide towards fostering a cohesive global community.

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National Philanthropy Day is not only a big day for Novak Djokovic Foundation but also an opportunity for all of you, global philanthropists, to celebrate and recognize activities of your donors, volunteers, foundations, leaders, corporations, and other philanthropic stakeholders.

Effective Philanthropy

National Philanthropy day is all about increasing public awareness for effective philanthropy. It is more than just giving, it is about focusing our generosity towards the ones who are in the greatest need. What is actually celebrated as a national day is, in fact, a grassroots movement of people, leaders, corporations and volunteers gathered around the idea of love for humanity.

Wise Giving

Wise giving is teaching us to move from being a passive donor to becoming an active donor. Association of Fundraising professionals has come up with Five “Ps” of Wise Giving. The first one is about being passionate about the causes that interest you the most, the ones you deeply care about. Then, as a donor, you have to be proactive and identify the charities which work on issues with the most relevant impact. Some great resources online for such a search are Guidestar, Charity Navigator and the Better Business Bureau.

Next, as a donor, you have to be prepared.Get to know the organization to which you are about to donate your time and money and make sure they are credible and trustworthy. In other words, make sure they are doing great work.

Additionally, planning instead of throwing your money on a whim is important.As in other segment in managing your finances, you want to know when and how much you want to invest. Finally, as proactive and wise donor you have to make sure that your donation is used up to its full potential, so try to consider all the ways to support your favorite charities.

If you would like to take a moment and donate to Novak Djokovic Foundation on National Philanthropy day and support our programs, you can do so through this link.

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Children and people in need are just behind the corner, everywhere you turn to. Even though many of them do not ask for help, I’m sure they would be more than grateful if somebody, just for a second, paid attention to their problems or even better, solved them. Whether it’s a granny, not able to go to the supermarket alone, or an old man who needs help to walk his dog. Sometimes a kid from your neighborhood will need a few extra lessons in maths or foreign language… In most cases these problems are common “problems” we can solve and deal with, only if we show our good will.

Our NDF team constantly strives to find the best way to help others and to implement various projects and ideas, targeting mostly children, the future of the world. For example, one of those ideas was the campaign “Let’s keep all children warm”. The campaign was conducted on December 14 last year, with the aim to provide warm clothing and shoes for more than 2,000 street children in Belgrade. It was spontaneous and took us just one day to plan and organise everything. We were thinking about those who needed our help most during cold and harsh winter months. Drop-in-centers are places that accept large number of homeless children, without the basic clothes to put on and stay warm. In a very short time, and with the help of social networks, we managed to motivate people and collect 3,000 pieces of warm clothing and shoes for those children. Apart from our neighbours, people we met and other individuals, this wonderful campaign was also supported by the companies like C&A, Forma Ideale, as well as municipality of New Belgrade and Delta City Shopping Mall where the collecting of warm clothes took place.

Generosity and good will made the campaign more than successful; throughout the day we shared the good vibes, by sending messages and photos via social media, motivating others to join us. The response was great – we were able to provide warm clothes and shoes for all many boys and girls.

“Let’s keep all children warm” campaign has proved once more that people here have a big heart, are capable of good deed and that they want to help those in need. If we are willing to help others, we are already halfway to doing so. Our good deeds can make the world a better place, not just for us, but what is more important, for our children as well, and it can inspire them to behave in the same way.

More pictures from “Let’s keep all children warm” campaign.

The post The Meaning of a Good Deed appeared first on Novak Djokovic Foundation.

Everybody do that, whether it’s politics or some minor sociological issue such as the problem of stray dogs on the streets. However, we usually end up these debates realizing that we either don’t have enough time to deal with such matters, or that no one truly cares. Somebody else must have thought of solving such problems before, but it’s impossible to do anything about it in this country, we often conclude. Things like pessimism, mocking the system and the people, come next.

I have to say, you are all wrong

Only four months ago, one of my friends and I came to the very situation I’ve mentioned above. We were strolling through the city center. We saw street beggars there, asking for some money, sitting in the cold. There were also street musicians playing some sad love songs, although it was freezing outside, and homeless people rummaging through trash cans looking for food and clothing. At the same time, we were warmly dressed, not feeling hungry, holding hot coffees in our hands. Sounds familiar? At that moment you probably think of nothing else but how lucky you are to have so little, and yet, comparing to others, so much.

An explosion of feelings happens inside. First of all, there’s this feeling of guilt, for instance, because you had complained about something the day before, but nothing was really wrong with you. Then there’s compassion for the pain and sorrow of these street people who are obviously in much more trouble than you. Finally, we come to the crucial point, a certain crossroad, with two different ways. The one is to share your feelings with a friend. After a short conversation about the issue, you make up your mind to take your old clothes to the Red Cross or some drop-in-center (to get rid of guilt) and continue your life as nothing has happened. The other way is to do something that will really make a difference!

It didn’t take us long to come up with the idea.

We had a vision to partially solve the problem. How about sharing our mixed-up feelings and emotions with all the people from Serbia and the rest of the world? Why don’t we start a chain reaction of generosity and thus inspire others to do the same? We decided to make a motivational video and show how little it takes to bring a smile to someone’s face. People in Serbia are known for their compassion and interest for tough moments others are going through. However, It’s no secret that the world is circulating the wrong image of Serbia and stereotypes attached to it. There is also so much pessimism around us. Therefore, we had enormous inspiration to make a big step towards stopping the abovementioned problems.

It was worth trying.

We set our idea in motion the very same day! We invited one of our friends with an excellent knowledge of video production. So, there were three of us, all students with less than a thousand Dinars (9 EUR) in each pocket. But, we had a vision how to make some changes in our society with the knowledge, time and experience we have. We filmed and edited the video in two days. Then we posted it on YouTube. Within two hours about 40,000 people saw it. The phone started to ring and our Facebook page was full of messages and comments. All web portals were writing about us and the media supported our idea.

We have bought some food to homeless people. They were so grateful. Quite a simple thing, but this meant a lot to them. In this video we also invited others to join us, do something good and thus inspire more people to act in the same way. You could hardly imagine how many people contacted us with a desire to help. There were those from Croatia, Bosnia and Herzegovina and from all parts of Serbia. People called and explained their ideas and visions to do something even bigger and better. Our hearts were full!

Honestly, we have never dreamed of the fact that so many people would react in such a positive way. We were prepared to face with failure. We did not have much faith, yet it turned out that we are still the nation full of compassion for others. We have awareness and it doesn’t take us long to do something good and to move forward. We’ll not stop here! We still have the vision and idea how to solve some issues and how to make the world a better place. We still want to inspire others, to help those in need, and those who have remained in streets for reasons and circumstances unknown to us. We want to give them a second chance and send to the world a better image of people from Serbia. Luckily, now we can achieve our cause with ease. As more and more people want to join us, there are less sad faces on the streets. Smiles are everywhere.

So far we have succeeded to encourage people to do something good and be generous on everyday basis. For example, in the bakery people now buy a loaf of bread over and give it to the homeless when they are passing by. In one of our campaigns we have invited people to bring old clothes. Thirty bags of warm clothing have been collected for children from Home for Infants, Children and Youth, drop-in-center, and for the Red Cross. Furthermore, we have invited people to organize a charity gig and raise money for the treatment of nine-year-old Biljana Stojković. There were more similar campaigns and appeals to help those in need.

We are not heroes of these stories!

The true heroes are all these people who gladly respond to such appeals. It doesn’t take much to react positively and do something good for others. Like we said before, we will not stop here. On March 20 we are planning to organize another campaign and collect plenty of clothes for children from shelters and drop-in-centers. We invite all of you who want to help others in any way to do so every time you have a chance! It does not have to be a homeless person. It can be your next-door neighbor or an old woman crossing the street. Or you can comfort someone who is sad by giving him/her a smile!

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However, this doesn’t mean that people are generally not inclined to do something good. Although it’s not in the spotlight, I’m sure you can find goodness and kindness everywhere you turn. There are many good people in your neighborhood, workplace, school, among your friends, among those who are in trouble or who have everything they need. Children in particular demonstrate acts of kindness. Even little things can brighten someone else’s day, they show us all the time.

Such a thing happened with kids from elementary school “čuro Strugar” in Belgrade. Even though they are still very young, these children showed me they were capable of good deeds and of making other children happy. I admit I was amazed by their maturity and awareness.

They came up with an excellent idea to donate their textbooks and workbooks to pupils from other schools in Serbia. They have heard that many of their peers in other cities do not have the didactic materials and books needed for learning. It’s either because their parents often lack money to buy such books for them, or there is nobody else who can provide them with all the necessary things for school. That’s why the children from “čuro Strugar” school came to the idea to collect their own books, which they don’t use any more, and to give them away to those who need it most. In a very short period of time they succeeded in collecting many nice school books, which were almost brand new. They packed them in boxes and called NDF for help. They’ve explained the purpose of their “project”, and asked for further directions. We were more than glad to help them and to be part of this wonderful story.

To make sure the collected material went to kids who need it most, we first contacted Tamara, executive director of the organization “Indigo” from Niš (Group for children and youth). NDF always had good cooperation with this organization, which aims at developing informal forms of education and covers many municipalities in southern Serbia. Therefore, thanks to Tamara we found out that there were many children from Novi Pazar who needed the collected materials most. We arranged everything in a very short time, and the parcels came to the right hands.

The pupils from elementary school “čuro Strugar” have showed us that everybody can contribute, and do something good and be generous. There are no obstacles if you have a good heart and strong will. As NDF team, we are here to help and motivate all thoughtful people, who think about others’ feelings, wants, needs, and desires usually before their own.

I believe that we all helped others in some way and made them happy. Can you recall some of these situations? How did you feel in those moments knowing that little you did meant a lot to someone else…? Share your experience with us. Others can learn about good deeds reading your stories, and be inspired. Maybe they will be encouraged to try to do similar things, or even something better.

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Do we even read anymore the words written on these boxes? Do we, out of force of habit, put some money in there, not even remembering the person it goes to? Does being charitable, in a modern world, comes down to dropping money through the hole? Are all those who give generous, and those who don’t open their wallets selfish and inhumane?

Kids today know much more than we do. They know that some of their peers are ill, that some are abandoned, and left to struggle on their own. They also know that some kids are suffering and dying. I have a feeling that I was faced with such stories much later in life.

But for that reason, I have also helped another much later than my older son.

This is a story that may help you, as a parent, to encourage your child and give him wings to do something small or big for another. I want to share this with you, as I believe that nice and positive stories encourage people to do good.

“Mom, today they set up a box in the school. Let me show you!”, says my son, a third-grader, while pulling my hand and directing me towards it.

HELP FILIP! He is gravely ill. The money is being collected so he can be helped and on the box, lays plastered a picture of a really cute boy with a smile on his face and cheerful eyes.

“Mom, please, give me some money, so I can help him”, says Stefan as he extends his hand, immediately assuming that I will pull out a wallet and give him the money he expects.

Without thinking I did reach for my bag, but I paused and thought to myself for the first time.

Is it enough to give your child some money just like that, in order to help someone? Is this the right way to teach him how to be charitable? Is it necessary to motivate him more to do something on his own for this boy?

“Son, I am proud of you for wanting to help, but if you really want to be charitable and help, you need to collect money on your own. Save some from your pocket money that you get everyday and I will double it”, I explained to him.

As we walked home, Stefan kept asking me questions about Filip’s illness: what is liver, why is it so important, how people can get liver disease and what are the treatments”¦ It was obvious that he had very carefully read all that was written on the box. At the same time, I was questioning my decision. Although I was sure it was the right thing to do, I was afraid that he, still too young, would not be motivated enough and that he might change his mind regarding collecting money to help Filip.

I decided to wait for two days, and if nothing happened, I would give him the money anyway.

However, that night Stefan made me feel ashamed of myself.

After school he didn’t come home straight away. Instead, he stayed with his friends who live in our street. It was slowly getting dark when they rang a doorbell.

Aleksa, Coka, Andreja, Sale, Maša and Stefan, unkempt, with muddy clothes and serious faces, held something in hands they called a “bunch of flowers”. It was rather a few field flowers and a lot of grass with roots and soil still on them, tied with rubber band for jars.

They were all talking in one voice: “Buy these flowers. Tomorrow we will take the money to school to help our friend Filip get better. The bouquet costs as much as you can give.”

I hardly fought back the tears.

That night, instead of a bedtime story, Stefan delightedly told me how they all got together, what deals they made, who chose the flowers, who tied the bouquets, who was collecting money, who will put the money in the box tomorrow”¦” He’s also planning to add some more from his pocket money”, he told me, explaining that he doesn’t have to buy anything for lunch tomorrow. “We have only four lessons and I will not be so hungry”…

I just wished to myself that they stay good like this forever.

I wonder what happens to us when we lose what they have. Now, when they are just kids…

The next day, they brought all the money to school and carefully put it into the box. A few days later, the box was gone. Every day Stefan inquired if there was any news about Filip. Unfortunately, he read the sad news that the little hero has passed away. He withdrew to his room and cried for hours…

A few months later he had a test in school where he was required to write an essay on the topic: “I did something good“. He wrote about Filip. At the end of his essay there was a wonderful sentence:  

I wish Filip could have made bouquets with us. I wish he could have played with us and ran with us in the woods. I will never forget him.

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Happy NEW 2014!

#NDF

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All of us learned and made progress, which will help us in the following year and all the years to come. Our Foundation in 2013 raised a lot of money that has been carefully directed. So, we can say that we have ended this year with good feelings and satisfaction.

We did a lot of things. Firstly, we opened three Schools of Life in the municipalities of Ljig, Knić and Raška, where nearly 100 children enrolled preschool programs in a very short time. We have chosen to help these poor and underdeveloped rural areas in Serbia, where the offer for children is very limited. Living conditions there are quite difficult, and preschool education suffers. This project is strategically very important for our Foundation, and therefore we will continue opening new Schools of Life in 2014.

Furthermore, “Family Outreach Worker” has been launched. This is a three year project funded by Novak Djokovic Foundation. With great efforts of UNICEF and the Ministry of Labour and Social Affairs, a brand new service in the social welfare system has been introduced in Serbia, in order to strengthen families in crisis. At the same time its goal is to reduce the risks of placement of children under three in institutions. In September, the first 53 families with 118 children started using this service, in four cities in Serbia (Belgrade, Kragujevac, Niš and Novi Sad). Service is provided by 16 professional team members, and the first results are expected in February 2014.

In 2013 we donated funds for complete reconstruction of schoolyard in special school “Anton Skala” in Belgrade, which takes care of 100 children with disabilities. NDF helped the project which won the first award in Beijing 2008, at the Mondialogo School Contest initiated by UNESCO. The result was that the kids from school got a new, modern and safe playground, with fitness sets for physical and moto-skill development and other moto-didactic sets and materials.

Our Foundation has a mission to assist organizations with the same goals and mission as ours. One of them is “Romanipen”, cultural and educational Roma organization from Kragujevac. NDF donated equipment and toys for children living in the city and suburban areas. We wanted to help children develop cognitive, graphomotor skills through play and fun, which they do not have the opportunity in everyday life. In addition, together with Roma Education Fund and city of Kragujevac, NDF organised a wonderful summer camp for 45 Roma and socially challenged kids.

This year more than 50 children aged seven to 10, from three rural primary schools, from Knic, Ljig and Raska municipalities, gathered in the first “Friendship Games” camp on Kopaonik. Novak Djokovic Foundation has organised this event wishing to provide children with opportunity to meet and socialize, acquire new skills, play and create together and to learn through numerous art and creative workshops, games and group activities. “Friendship Games” were a true success – smiles on children’s faces during the games, and tears in their eyes saying goodbye told us everything.

Novak Djokovic Foundation has donated 43 bicycles to socially disadvantaged children over 10 years old, from Vladicin Han, Surdulica, Bojnik and Lebane, which are all very poor areas in Serbia. The Foundation also provided New Year gifts to children from foster families in Belgrade.

At the end of the year, Novak Djokovic Foundation has collected more than 3,000 pieces of warm clothing and shoes within campaign “Let’s keep all children warm” which were delivered to drop-in centers from Belgrade and shelters for children in Niš to help them get through the winter.

We could not have succeeded if it hadn’t been for our charity dinners that took place in London and New York, where we raised money for our projects. Dear guests and friends of NDF – Milutin Gatsby, Rehana and Gordon Uehling, Job Brooks, Brendan Murphy, Anna Wintour, Mo Stojnovic, Duchess of York, Sarah Ferguson, Princesses Beatrice and Eugenia, Sir Richard Branson, Gerard Butler, Ronnie Wood, Erin O’Connor, Lior Suchard, Jeremy Piven, Branislav Ivanovic, Jonathan Ross, Marion Bartoli, Tim Henman, Matt Bellamy, Naomi Campbell, Adriana Lima, Kate Hudson, Goldie Hawn, Donna Karan, Tommy Hilfiger, Jimmy Connors, John McEnroe and many more helped people hear for our Foundation and become aware of the problems of early education in Serbia. NDF appreciates their help.

We also want to thank all of you who follow us on the internet. Big thanks to all our bloggers who share with us their thoughts, experiences, comments and write stories for blog.novakdjokovicfoundation.org, helping the important issues reach many people worldwide.

We want to say a big THANKS for endless support to all our partners who recognized our mission, and who is trying with us to help children from Serbia have a nice childhood and the opportunity to make all their dreams come true.

At the end, I want to thank the entire NDF team, Novak, Jelena, Dijana, Marija, Gorana, Marko, Andjelka, Bojana, Nebojsa, Jelena Vemic, Ivana, Lana, Jelena Vukajlovic, New Media Team, Vlada, Center for Interactive Pedagogy, UNICEF, all volunteers for trying to make things better for children in Serbia. Thanks for believing in their dreams. Let’s keep it that way in 2014.

The post A year to remember for all of us in NDF appeared first on Novak Djokovic Foundation.

However, the fact is that we don’t have to do TOO MUCH in order to do well for our society and ourselves. Small things are important too. Maybe even more important than the big ones. Imagine if everyone did one small deed a day/a month even, what a wonderful world we would be living in?

Since it is the time of Christmas and the time of giving and receiving, I would like to mention one story that has put a smile to my face and made me proud of being a citizen of Belgrade. Like the students you will see in these videos, I too believe that in each of us there is something good and humane. We all want to do a good deed and help those that need it the most. However, we often lack imagination, motivation or time to do so. These handful of students from Belgrade showed that giving does not need to be a weight upon your shoulders. It can also be a fun, creative activity that will draw people together because they have united to do greater good for those that need our help.

Watch videos below and let us know what you think. And if you have any videos or stories to share of others who help society, please send them all to blog@novakdjokovicfoundation.org. Let’s start this year with sharing good and positive stories from our own neighborhoods; of humane and wonderful deeds that people around us have done. We will run the best story once a month, so that we all can get great ideas and be inspired to help people around us to lead a more fulfilling life.

Merry Christmas to everyone and a Happy New Year from all of us in the NDF Team.

Enjoy:

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