Trag Foundation announced the winners of the VIRTUS Philanthropy Award for the 13th year in a row, awarding companies, small and medium enterprises and individuals in order to acknowledge and publicly name all those who supported community development in a strategic way, thus setting an example for everyone to follow.
The recipient of the Main Award for corporate contribution on the national level is the company Mastercard Europe SA Belgrade for donating 250.000 EUR to NURDOR for the construction of the Parents’ House in Belgrade, support to women’s entrepreneurship and health protection in Serbia. The Award or contribution to the local community in which the company operates is presented to the company Eurobank a.d. Belgrade, while Telenor LTD received the award for long-term partnership between business and non-profit sector.
Family enterprise from Smederevo, Inter-mehanika LTD received the award for small and medium-size enterprises, while the award for individual contribution to philanthropy went to Tamara Klarić and Bogdan Stevanović from Belgrade, who raised funds for the construction of a new Parents’ House in Belgrade as part of the humanitarian walking campaign “Take a Step”.
VIRTUS special awards are given to dm drogerie markt LTD Belgrade for the most innovative project, AVON Cosmetics SCG LTD for contribution to gender equality, Marko Čikarić, a young teacher from Prokuplje, for the personal contribution to the local community development, Milinka Ivanović, a retired nurse from Kruševac, for contribution to vulnerable children, while Mattea Ballani, a nine-year-old from Zrenjanin, received the special award for young philanthropist.
Through VIRTUS Award, that was established in 2007, Trag Foundation has been promoting philanthropy in our country for the last 13 years thus encouraging a growing number of companies and individuals to take part in public benefit programs and initiatives. A growing number of candidates who apply each year, especially individuals, shows that citizens are becoming more involved in philanthropic actions year after year. Citizens are followed by the corporate sector, which stands out with its strategies and donations, not only of money, but also of goods, services, time and knowledge.
VIRTUS Award for 2019 is presented with the financial support of the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) within the Framework for Giving project, the European Union and the Balkan Trust for Democracy.