Wholeheartedly – Aktion Herz

As every year GIBS students from year 4 to year 8 took part in the charity project AKTION HERZ on November 15 and 16. In only one and a half day the students collected food donations worth 16 488 Euros.

Aktion Herz is a charity event organized by CARITAS and the GIBS Religion Department  (GIBSCARE). The idea is very simple: students stand in front of SPAR supermarkets in Graz and inform people about Aktion Herz. They tell them that they collect food donations for people in need (in Graz). The food donations are then stored in boxes at the markets, collected as soon as possible (at least the same day) by official CARITAS members and brought to distribution centers in Graz-Karlau, Graz-Kalvarienberg and Graz-St.Andrä.

On November 15 and 16 our students donated at least 90 min of their precious free-time (or more if they want to) for a good cause. Secondly, by using their natural charm to convince people to donate food, they practiced their rhetoric skills and learned how to speak in public. Thirdly, they acquired self-management skills by learning how to deal with disappointment and rejection and had fun doing it together with their friends. Finally and probably most important, students experienced that their contribution matters: when they heard positive feedback from strangers, when they saw the food donations piling up in the boxes, they felt that their effort can make a difference.

The Religion Department