International Volunteer Day: Francisca encourages young people to show solidarity through "Ready to Help"
The will to help others has always been part of Francisca's life. Maybe since she was a child, when she was a proud Girl Scout. But it was at secondary school, and later at university, that volunteering became a serious thing.
The "Ready to Help" project, created by the 21-year-old student from the Faculdade de Medicina Dentária (Faculty of Dental Medicine), in Viseu, with the help of professors and colleagues, has become a reference in supporting people in need in that city.
With over 100 volunteers, the group, which will soon be set up as a youth association, has been growing and proving, according to the student, that "young people are supportive and often don't get more involved in these types of projects because they don't have the necessary information".
This is why, according to Francisca Neves Almeida, "the group invests so much in promoting its projects and campaigns on social media". And one thing is for sure: those who visit "Ready to Help"'s Instagram or Facebook page can immediately find out about all the campaigns, both those already carried out and those still in progress.
The Christmas campaign is currently underway, "with the collection of food and non-food items to be delivered to families in need", but the other initiatives "are not forgotten", ensures the volunteer. Such is the case of support to the elderly, a project that "was born during the pandemic, when many elderly people were found alone in their homes, or without visits from family members in the nursing homes where they were staying".
Thus was born the "Caring Calls" initiative, which "kept many elderly people company and continues to do so, as the volunteers maintain contact with these people, even though there is no longer any confinement".
But this is not the end of the areas of intervention of this group of volunteers born in the Regional Centre of Viseu of the UCP. "The concern for the environment is constant and the group has been investing in initiatives such as ecological walks to collect rubbish, or raising awareness for the use of sustainable masks," adds the student.
Ready to help is the motto of this group of volunteers that, according to Francisca Almeida, "could not exist without the support of the University".
"The Universidade Católica Portuguesa is the anchor of the project", says the volunteer, remembering "the constant help of teachers and employees, such as Andreia Seco from the university secretariat, or professors Nélio Veiga, Maria José Correia, Clotilde Passos and Célia Ribeiro. And of course the colleagues".
"Without all these extraordinary people, none of what we do would be possible," adds the Ready to Help president, on this International Day of Volunteering, established by the United Nations in December 1985, to encourage and value voluntary service throughout the world.