Caravan of Happiness is on its way! If you notice these days a traveling house reminiscent of the most beautiful New Year’s card, and you wonder what this could be, let us tell you the secret: Novak Djokovic Foundation and Santa Clause are traveling from town to town sharing New Year’s joy with children in 12 towns. The entire team of the Foundation led by our Global CEO Jelena Djokovic and National Director Maja Kremic, is spreading a good mood and festive spirit. Sing and dance along with us!

About to hug Santa for the first time!

In cooperation with preschool institutions, local municipalities, and Social Welfare Centres, this noble idea brought together a total of 17 socially responsible companies – Foundation’s friends who made their contribution in various donations: toys, board games, books, cosmetics and hygiene products, wardrobe, vehicles, food products, consumables, branding, transport of presents, as well as Santa Claus and his costume.

“Our Foundation is active in all parts of Serbia. We travel a lot and sometimes we don’t spend much time together. This journey was a great opportunity for our team to enjoy the wonderful ambiance, which was easily passed on to people in all towns we visited. Everyone provided us with a warm welcome and we are happy to have brought smiles to children’s faces. On our journey, we reflected on how we felt and how this event affected us, and to what extent this happiness, no matter how short, will affect the lives of these children and their families. We have concluded that every good deed is engraved in time, and we will keep trying to make children in Serbia happy, just like these children today, who saw that there are people outside their micro-community who love them and who are happy to be able to help them. We hope that this event with us, the Santa, and other children would give them an impetus in further development”, said Jelena Djokovic, Co-Founder and Global CEO at Novak Djokovic Foundation.

Jelena Djokovic and Team NDF are grateful for the many friends we met on this journey!

Companies that supported the project: Raspberry Plum Ltd., Integral Technic d.o.o., Jumbo Travel d.o.o., BIG TC, Imperijal d.o.o., Orbico d.o.o., Pertini d.o.o., Transfera d.o.o., Henkel Srbija d.o.o., Endava d.o.o., Clarivate d.o.o., JRJ Publishing House, Aksa d.o.o., ChipsWay d.o.o., employees at Generali osiguranje Srbija d.o.o., Studio Glumionica, and Pepsi Srbija.

Santa and his new friend in front of the Caravan of Happiness!

Currently, the foundation is touring the following municipalities and towns: Nis, Vranje, Pirot, Leskovac, Prokuplje, Kursumlija, Vlasotince, Vladicin Han, Bujanovac, Dimitrovgrad, Bela Palanka, and Doljevac.

Novak Djokovic Foundation traditionally supports children from socially disadvantaged groups during the New Year and Christmas holidays – children in shelters and children’s hospitals, children without parental care, beneficiaries of social assistance, etc. This year, 277 planned presents will grow to nearly 300 and, at least for a short time, improve the lives of these children growing up in a difficult financial situation.

Greetings from Vladicin Han!

In parallel with this project, the Novak Djokovic Foundation is implementing the 2021 Season of Giving campaign as part of which funds are raised for the launch of a new kindergarten in Niš, with the capacity of 100 slots. Support the campaign at fundraise.novakdjokovicfoundation.org.

The post Novak Djokovic Foundation’s Caravan of Happiness and Santa Claus deliver New Year’s gifts to children in 12 municipalities in Serbia appeared first on Novak Djokovic Foundation.

Caravan of Happiness is on its way! If you notice these days a traveling house reminiscent of the most beautiful New Year’s card, and you wonder what this could be, let us tell you the secret: Novak Djokovic Foundation and Santa Clause are traveling from town to town sharing New Year’s joy with children in 12 towns. The entire team of the Foundation led by our Global CEO Jelena Djokovic and National Director Maja Kremic, is spreading a good mood and festive spirit. Sing and dance along with us!

About to hug Santa for the first time!

In cooperation with preschool institutions, local municipalities, and Social Welfare Centres, this noble idea brought together a total of 17 socially responsible companies – Foundation’s friends who made their contribution in various donations: toys, board games, books, cosmetics and hygiene products, wardrobe, vehicles, food products, consumables, branding, transport of presents, as well as Santa Claus and his costume.

“Our Foundation is active in all parts of Serbia. We travel a lot and sometimes we don’t spend much time together. This journey was a great opportunity for our team to enjoy the wonderful ambiance, which was easily passed on to people in all towns we visited. Everyone provided us with a warm welcome and we are happy to have brought smiles to children’s faces. On our journey, we reflected on how we felt and how this event affected us, and to what extent this happiness, no matter how short, will affect the lives of these children and their families. We have concluded that every good deed is engraved in time, and we will keep trying to make children in Serbia happy, just like these children today, who saw that there are people outside their micro-community who love them and who are happy to be able to help them. We hope that this event with us, the Santa, and other children would give them an impetus in further development”, said Jelena Djokovic, Co-Founder and Global CEO at Novak Djokovic Foundation.

Jelena Djokovic and Team NDF are grateful for the many friends we met on this journey!

Companies that supported the project: Raspberry Plum Ltd., Integral Technic d.o.o., Jumbo Travel d.o.o., BIG TC, Imperijal d.o.o., Orbico d.o.o., Pertini d.o.o., Transfera d.o.o., Henkel Srbija d.o.o., Endava d.o.o., Clarivate d.o.o., JRJ Publishing House, Aksa d.o.o., ChipsWay d.o.o., employees at Generali osiguranje Srbija d.o.o., Studio Glumionica, and Pepsi Srbija.

Santa and his new friend in front of the Caravan of Happiness!

Currently, the foundation is touring the following municipalities and towns: Nis, Vranje, Pirot, Leskovac, Prokuplje, Kursumlija, Vlasotince, Vladicin Han, Bujanovac, Dimitrovgrad, Bela Palanka, and Doljevac.

Novak Djokovic Foundation traditionally supports children from socially disadvantaged groups during the New Year and Christmas holidays – children in shelters and children’s hospitals, children without parental care, beneficiaries of social assistance, etc. This year, 277 planned presents will grow to nearly 300 and, at least for a short time, improve the lives of these children growing up in a difficult financial situation.

Greetings from Vladicin Han!

In parallel with this project, the Novak Djokovic Foundation is implementing the 2021 Season of Giving campaign as part of which funds are raised for the launch of a new kindergarten in Niš, with the capacity of 100 slots. Support the campaign at fundraise.novakdjokovicfoundation.org.

The post Novak Djokovic Foundation’s Caravan of Happiness and Santa Claus deliver New Year’s gifts to children in 12 municipalities in Serbia appeared first on Novak Djokovic Foundation.

We are proud that we have achieved so many great things this year and that we have made a future a little brighter for the kids we’ve touched through our projects.

We wish to thank all of you who boldly walked with us each step of the way. We couldn’t have done this without you!

Thank you for 2015 and let’s work together to make 2016 even more memorable!

Happy holidays,  

Your Novak Djokovic Foundation team

[divider]

The post Happy holidays from NDF team! appeared first on Novak Djokovic Foundation.

Happy NEW 2014!

#NDF

The post If you give a little love, you can get a little love of your own appeared first on Novak Djokovic Foundation.

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.