Introduction of Bácskaiak Egymásért Közhasznú Egyesület („People of Bácska for Each Other Non-profit Association”)

Goals, fields of operation:

Our organization was founded in 2003; it operates in the region of Baja since that time, developing year by year, with expanding scope of activities and fields of operation to correspond to the continuously changing circumstances and needs. It is some kind of an umbrella organization that consists of 12 local clubs, out of which 8 were formed on the basis of different types of diseases, and 4 fulfil cultural, social and other needs. In the beginning the major activity of the association was determined by smoothing the way of the clubs; the main goal was to represent their interests and help their members. However, through the years we realized that there are several fields where Bácskaiak Egymásért Közhasznú Egyesület can gain a foothold, where there is a need for its activity, and where it can utilize the experience gained in the civil sector over time.

So at present our activity covers a wide range of fields, among others the following: healthcare (education of healthy lifestyle, prevention and regular health screenings), education, protection and support of the retired, social and charity activity, youth support, dissemination of knowledge about our home country and local history, etc.

Structure, member organizations:

The ever growing number of our members is divided among the 12 clubs mentioned before. These are the following:

1. Baja és Vidéke ILCO Egyesület (people living with stoma)
2. Természetjáró klub(exploring the nature, travelling all around world)
3. Nyugdíjas klub(retirement community)
4. Bácskai Cukorbetegek Klubja (people with diabetes)
5. Helytörténeti és Honismereti Klub (people dealing with the dissemination of knowledge about our local history and home country)
6. Ifjúsági Klub (youth club)
7. Paintball-airsoft sportklub(brings together fans of paintball and airsoft sports)
8. Lisztérzékenyek Klubja (people with celiac disease)
9. Neurológiai Betegek Klubja (people with neurological problems)
10. Sclerosis Multiplexes Betegek Klubja (people with Multiple Sclerosis)
11. Siketek és Nagyothallók Országos Szövetsége Helyi Szervezete (local people who are hard of hearing or deaf)
12. Sugovica Daganatos Betegek Klubja (mainly women who have undergone breast cancer surgery)
13. Vakbarát Klub (blind and partially sighted people)

The small groups of Bácskaiak Egymásért Közhasznú Egyesület do their daily activities on their own, but with the help of the association: they organize gatherings and different programs, inviting the members of their fellow clubs to them as well; they go hiking and attend local or other events; in certain cases they take part in the organization process of these programs as well. To carry out these all, the stable background is provided by our association, which enables its member organizations to take part in various tenders, provides financial and moral support, as well as as human resources, solves logistics problems, and helps its members virtually in any case.

Major activities, programs:

Prevention, health preservation:

For years, the corner stone of our activity has been the organization and implementation of health screenings; by now we perform this task routinely, but always developing and on higher and higher levels. Fortunately, we get more and more help to perform this activity, so we can continuously extend the number of places we visit, the stock of equipment we use, and this way the number of measurements we take.

During these health screenings, besides the most basic cholesterol, blood pressure, blood glucose, body fat percentage and body mass index measurement the participants can usually receive services like ECG examination, lung capacity measurement, body vitamin-supply identification, and full body analysis, through which they can get information on several factors that determine our state of health, from bone mineral content through total body water rate to skeletal muscle rate.

Culture, dissemination of knowledge and information:

Taking the different needs of people into consideration, from time to time we organize presentations and smaller trainings for our members and often for a wider public, dealing with history, culture, healthcare, personality development, healthy lifestyle and a number of other topics, which make their club meetings more meaningful, and provide them with useful information.

Youth and child protection:

In recent years our association has paid particular attention to the support of children and youngsters, especially those who live under disadvantaged circumstances or with special needs. We try to help them in different ways, for example we organize remedial classes, informative presentations, different leisure time activities, excursions, etc. for them.

Charity activity:

Our organization has maintained a good relationship for many years with the Gypsy Local Government of Baja, the Family Support and Child Welfare Service of the Baja Subregion, the Baja Group of the Hungarian Maltese Aid Service, and many other organizations of Baja and its region. We regularly take part in their different events, and support their goals and aspirations to our potential.

We often organize mobile health screenings for groups or families living under disadvantaged circumstances, and besides this we can support them with regular charity events (collecting clothes, toys, preserved foods, etc.). We intend to continue our participation in charity activities in the future as well, since this is one of the most expressive means of communicating our social responsibility and basic values.

Cross-border/international relationships:

The association maintains especially good relationship with many organizations beyond the borders, eg. North Banat Association of the Multiple Sclerosis Patients of Törökkanizsa, Organization of the Szabadka MS Patients, or Youth Club of Sombor, whom we got acquainted with due to the activities of our different clubs. We invited these groups and associations to visit us in Baja several times, and later the representatives of our organization were as cordially welcomed in their country as they could experience it here. We intend to maintain and develop these ever strengthening friendly and cooperative relationships in the future as well.

Operation of a web shop:

In 2014 our association started a web shop at www.premiumvitamin.hu, which offers premium quality nutritional supplements to its customers. The establishment of the web shop serves a dual purpose. On one hand, we can provide our members and other people who take care of their health with health-protective products at the best prices of the market, which is in accordance with our major activity: health preservation and disease prevention. However, on the other hand, we are planning to complement our poor sources of income with the help of the web shop. The basic concept of the management of www.premiumvitamin.hu is to provide their customers and their families with vitamins and dietary supplements of the best quality and efficiency – in all product categories and in one place.

Sources, sustainability:

The maintenance and operation of Bácskaiak Egymásért Közhasznú Egyesület is financed mainly through tender sources; at present we can fulfil and develop the tasks and services of the association on a high quality with the help of these kinds of support, as well as make it known to the wider public. We hope that we will have this opportunity in the future as well.

Without the help of different tenders we would not be able to maintain our office, employ our colleagues, improve our equipment, and finance the considerable costs of our health screenings. That is why; besides administration, management, event management and communication, one of the major tasks of our employees is searching for and working out these opportunities as well as the implementation of the tender programs. This is how we can operate successfully in the long run, maintain and improve our achievements, and reach our short- and long-term goals.