Volunteering Opportunities

LONG TERM PROJECTS

CAFÉ AD ASTRA

www.cafeadastra.cz

"Per Aspera Ad Astra" is the motto of Cafe AdAastra, in translation "Over obstacles to the stars". The café’s employees have been given a lot of obstacles in the form of a disability and the café is trying to help them get to the stars. We believe that life puts obstacles in the way of ordinary people, so that they become extraordinary people. The aim of café AdAstra is to create jobs and a natural environment where people with and without disabilities meet and work together.

How ISP community supports this organisation (activities are driven by students):

Managing social media
ISP Students can organize events - concerts, presentations, reading sessions, etc.
Helping in case of emergency - e.g. students created a Donio profile to safe Cafe in the situations like closing due to pandemic, once the cafe was robbed in 2021
Cafe AdAstra is part of The Giving Tree project

WHAT WE ARE CURRENTLY WORKING ON ABOVE OUR REGULAR AND LONG TERM TASKS:

Planning of regular visits of students groups - studying, meeting with friends, concerts, etc.
Working on Business plan - how to bring more customers, options for catering, Povinný podíl, etc.

DOG / ANIMAL SHELTERS, RESCUE STATION FOR WILD ANIMALS

DOG SHELTERS ISP IS SUPPORTING:

Dog Shelter Bouchalka:

http://www.psiutulekbouchalka.cz/,

https://www.pesweb.cz/cz/psi-utulek-bouchalka?fbclid=IwAR2Z5qlim8ut_yJ3AadiHEzw3-keRxOOIyavE-KajMvwjaS4tg-8rEk4Dhg

Possibility of walking dogs everyday from 10 am till 3 pm. Dog shelter is located in Buštěhrad, approximately 30 minute by bus from Nádraží Veleslavín. They also welcome people to help with social media, making pictures, videos, etc.

Animal Shelter Cool Critters:

https://coolcritters.org/

Volunteers have always been very welcome at our Sanctuary, many volunteers return and many have become friends. Whether you enjoy dog walking, petting kitties, taking photographs, chopping wood, cleaning or just hanging out with the critters, there is always something to do.

We welcome visitors weekdays and at the weekend by arrangement. Contact us on our facebook page, by email hello@coolcritters.org or call Jaq on 607 901 042.

Dog Shelter Voříškov:

https://voriskov.cz/

RESCUE STATIONS BASED ON YOUR LOCATION:

https://www.zvirevnouzi.cz/

https://www.facebook.com/ZachrannaStaniceLHMP

During the year we monitor the needs of those institutions and organise awareness campaigns, collections and fundraising.

Throughout previous years we organised the following projects:

Collection for dog shelter Bouchalka and Voříškov - mainly food for dogs
Collection of the paper boxes for Hedgehogs & awareness communication
Fundraising for help to Australian animals during Bushfires
Dog walks

Environmental project - "Wild-life friendly ISP"- The main goal is to have insects, birds, frogs, hedgehogs, etc. at ISP campus, build a safe place for them and also inspire / motivate ISP community members to do the same in their gardens. It could be used also for educational purposes - birds watching, life cycle of animals, etc. The project is run as student's independent projects with following timeline:

September 2021 - preparation and discussion about the individual projects. ES Craft club is working on bird feeders.

October 2021 - Internal x external x worldwide research. ES Craft club is working on bird feeders.

November 2021 - Project plans and presentations preparation. ES Craft club is finishing bird feeders, installation is planned for mid of November. US students will run an awareness campaign about hedgehogs and together with Mr. Trunecek will build houses for them which will be installed together with ES Outdoor learning students.

December 2021 - Projects and presentations review by Mr. Bohat - Expert for wildlife . ES Craft club is working on bird houses.

January 2022 - Projects and presentations to Facility team, Leadership team, ISP Community. ES Craft club is working on bird houses.

Spring 2022 - implementation of approved projects

Collection for dog shelters and student's visit in CoolCritters shelter. Students brought collected things and spent couple of hours there to help outside / inside the shelter.
Students run awareness campaign about illegal dog breeding (množírny psů)

JAKO DOMA

Jako doma is a non-profit organisation dedicated to women's homelessness. Their mission is “partnership and participation, empowerment, creating a safe environment, gender sensitivity, and cooperation between people with and without a home.”

How ISP community supports this organisation:

US students are in the contact with the organisation on a regular basis. Two times a year hygien drive is organised and students are going there to deliver donations in person.

WHAT WE ARE CURRENTLY WORKING ON ABOVE OUR REGULAR AND LONG TERM TASKS:

Together wit organisation we are trying to find other ways how to support Jako doma.

ST VINCENT DE PAUL

St Vincent de Paul is a shelter for mothers, who come from neglected or even abusive family environments and who often have physical disabilities or mental health issues. The children living at St Vincent live a normal life, where they go to school, help out at home and love to play and explore. They range in age from 4 month baby to 17 years of age.

How ISP community supports this organisation:

SCA organise once a year big collection (clothes, shoes, toys, etc.)
St. Vincent is the main part of The Giving tree project
We were happy that in 2020 we received few pictures and stories from the shelter as many people are hiding there because of there situation.

THE GIVING TREE

Christmas time can be lonely, sad and even stressful for many children living without their parents and those families who struggle financially. This is why we came with this idea for a project called “The Giving Tree” through which members of the ISP community can buy gifts to those who are in a difficult life situation in order to make their Christmas magical as well. Christmas is a time for giving and being generous to others. The beneficiaries of this project will be children and their invalid/disabled mother’s from St Vincent de Paul home and adults living in homeless shelters outside of Prague, disabled employees from Cafe Ad Astra or seniors from senior houses. For every gift that is donated, one colorful handprint is hung on our tree at ISP. The more gifts there are, the brighter our tree will be. And so will our hearts.

The project is run by students - US students are preparing sign up sheet, web page and MS students will take care of the collection place decoration.

CLEAN UP DAYS

www.trashhero.cz

www.trashhero.org

www.uklidmecesko.cz

We as the ISP community are participating in World clean up day (two times per year) . Members of US Community service club are also running the individual clean ups.

HOMELESS WALKS

The ISP Community Service Club aims to help the homeless population of Prague that are not located in shelters as well as those that are. They aim is to go on a “homeless walk” once or twice a month in which we walk around downtown Prague with sandwiches that we made and hand them out. During the winter, we also receive donations from the Knitting Club and are able to hand out handmade knitwear such as gloves and hats in addition to the sandwiches. It is a way for ISP students to see the other side of Prague and bring happiness to people in small ways.

NOCLEŽENKY (Armada Spasy) - Vouchers for homeless people 1 voucher - 100 CZK - bed for 1 night, warm food, consultancy with specialists

STAFF APPRECIATION

At ISP we are very lucky to have such amazing staff that supports our students behind the scenes. The Community Service Club has an annual staff appreciation event right before Winter Break and Christmas to thank the staff for all of their hard work. In 2019, the club fundraised with bake sales and a Pumpkin Spice Latte sale to be able to gift each staff member a small gift of appreciation consisting of chocolate and a card that is handwritten and decorated by a student. Although our token of appreciation is not large in scale, we hope to spread happiness and show our gratitude to the less visible workforce that makes ISP a safe and functional community.

SENIOR MOCK COFFEE

When exams come around, the seniors are stressed about doing well on exams that may define the rest of their lives. The mock exams, even though they aren’t the actual exams, are just as stressful. Community service club makes sure to help the seniors as much as we can by making coffee and baking goods, to make sure the seniors have some snacks and feel better during their exams.

HAPPY CARAVAN

https://www.isp.cz/happy-caravan-partnership/

https://happy-caravan.org/

Happy Caravan is a nonprofit organization with schools in two refugee camps in Greece as well as a recently opened orphanage in Syria. They aim to provide a safe educational space for the children in the camps so that they can progress with their learning. Happy Caravan is in partnership with other organizations such as Connect By Music, which gives the children the opportunity to also have music/instrument lessons, as well as being in partnership with ISP. ISP students, staff, and parents can contribute to Happy Caravan through financial donations (on their website or during the fundraisers organized at ISP by students in the ISPxHC club), donate school supplies and other items that are taken down to the camp by volunteers within the community, or join the ISPxHC club in Upper School to take a more active role in contributing. Additionally, last year we had for the first time a trip to the camps during the WWW program which gives students the opportunity to teach the children and spend a week at the school.

ISP helps Happy Caravan through financial donations, supply donations, sending volunteers to the camp, and spreading awareness within our ISP community and also externally.

DOBRÝ ANDĚL / GOOD ANGEL

www.dobryandel.cz

DOCTORS WITHOUT BORDERS

www.lekaribezhranic.cz

OTHER PROJECTS of the ISP Community

Roots and Shoots - https://www.rootsandshoots.org/
Climate change awareness / strikes
Zero waste
Forest recovery, Planting trees, Water management
Participation in Earth Week at ISP
The month of kind acts at ISP
Face masks making and other volunteering during COVID 19 pandemic
"Blood - the liquid gold"
ISP Cookbook
Cooperation with Bátor Tábor
Appreciation Boxes to hospitals during Covid 19

AWARENESS CAMPAIGNS AS A VOLUNTEERING

Look around and choose the topic (People, Animals, Environment)
Do a research - local, international, worldwide
Prepare the action plan
Double check the results with the specialists before you publish it (Community Service Coordinator, Teacher, Counselor, Nurse, Psychologist, etc.)
Create posters, internal and external communication
Start the campaign!
If you want to encourage people to support any organization financially please provide the QR code for direct payment. Try to choose the Czech organization!
Think globally, act locally!

Few examples / topics for awareness campaign:

People

How to communicate with blind people.
How to help disabled people.
Abused women, kids, seniors.
Prevention of cancers.
Importance of Food bank
Create a map of the places where to donate clothes, shoes, food, furniture, etc.

Animals

How to support wildlife animals during the seasons.
Wildlife animals in our campus and neighborhood.
How to feed wildlife animals in Czech Republic.
How to adopt animals from shelters and whats the right way to buy an animal (legal way).

Environment