Behind the Galați Community Foundation stands, as with the other foundations, an initiative group made up of a few people united by the desire to bring changes to their community. Thus, in 2014, the initiative group for the Galați Community Foundation started several projects and events, thus mobilizing the funds necessary to set up the foundation.
The initiative group gathered community support through a series of events bringing together donors and community projects in the social, educational, medical, urban and cultural fields.
The first event organized by the initiative group was the 2014 Galați Half Marathon, which helped raise more than 20,000 lei for 11 projects proposed by non-governmental organizations. More than 50 volunteers have been involved in the organization of the event.
The mission of the Galați Community Foundation is to improve the quality of life in the community and to provide leadership for philanthropy activities by promoting community solutions and actions that support the common good. In 2016, the Galați team worked on developing new programs to meet local needs and launched the Scholarship Fund. Through this project, 11 students were supported financially and mentored by the Foundation’s volunteers.
In 2016, the third edition of the Galați Half Marathon saw the largest number of participants – over 500 – and managed to raise more than 30,000 lei for the 16 projects registered in the competition. Together with the 2017 edition, 50 causes were supported and financed, in total.
“The Foundation is the spark that reignited our hopes and dreams that we can change something, and it has shown us that we are not alone – there are tens, hundreds like us. We are here thanks to the local community and its involvement in the Foundation’s activities. I feel the community is more involved, more willing to change the daily life of the city”, says the executive director of Galați CF.
After three years since it was established, Galaţi Community Foundation has reached a moment of maturity and accountability and, once calibrated in its human resources, it will have the desired impact in the community, but also for its members, providing a 100% NGO-istic framework, a fun, cool, but seriously beneficial for those living in Galati.