Philantropic Partnerships
Kraket believes that we have a social responsibility to not just improve the lives of our members, but also the lives of the society around us. Therefore we have enshrined in our regulations the requirement to help raise money a charity each year. Multiple events have been organized to raise money for these charities. This year we've raised money using a Poker Tournament and a Charity Auction, Kraket itself also contributes to each charity. We've supported these charities in the last few years.
2023-2024 Vier het Leven
Vier het Leven is a foundation dedicated to organizing cultural activities for seniors, ensuring that everything is taken care of to allow them to enjoy their outings without worries. Their team of volunteers picks up seniors aged 65 and above from their homes, and together, they embark on delightful trips to theaters, cinemas, concerts, and museums. Vier het Leven serves as a bridge, connecting elderly individuals with society by regularly arranging socio-cultural events and providing them with genuine care and attention. The strength of Vier het leven lies in the removal of barriers, personal attention to the elderly and an approach tailored to the target group. All this is possible thanks to the efforts of 1,700 committed volunteers. Go to the website below to learn more about Vier het Leven:
2022-2023 Het Vergeten Kind
‘Het Vergeten Kind’ is committed to thousands of children in the Netherlands that are raised in an unsafe and/or unstable domestic situation and who are invisible to many others. Many of these children are neglected, abused and/or confronted with serious problems of their parents, like addictions, big debts and psychological problems. As a result, these children do not receive the positive attention they need. In more than 50,000 of these cases, the situation is so serious that it is not possible for them to live with their parents anymore. The purpose of ‘Het Vergeten Kind’ is for these children to not stand alone anymore, to be seen and heard, to live at a safe and stable place and to be able to develop positively, such that they have a future to look forward to and such that they find their own place in society. To be able to realize these missions and to help these children now, but also on a structural basis, ‘Het Vergeten Kind’ works with two principles. The first principle relates to being an ‘ordinary’ child, where they try to develop impactful programs so that this target group will not be forgotten. The second principle relates to creating a safe and stable home for every kid using programs and projects that contribute to achieving this goal. Go to the website below to learn more about Het Vergeten Kind:
https://www.hetvergetenkind.nl
2021-2022 Resto VanHarte
Resto VanHarte is a Dutch charity organization that aims to combat loneliness and social isolation by bringing people together over a meal. The organization was founded in 2004 by Fred Beekers and is supported by the National Postcode Lottery and several other funds, including the Oranje Fonds and the VSBfonds. Resto VanHarte has a local focus and operates in various locations across the Netherlands. The charity’s mission is to create a society where no one is lonely, and everyone has a place at the table. Resto VanHarte’s guests are given the opportunity to make new friends and expand their network while enjoying a meal together. The charity also organizes various events, such as Christmas dinners and other social gatherings, to bring people together.
We've sponsored one of these meals, which we enjoyed together with local residents in Amsterdam Noord. It was a very fun evening, with great food.
2020-2021 Dirk Kuyt Foundation
The charity of this year was the Dirk Kuyt Foundation. For many of us, sports are an important part of our lives. The Dirk Kuyt Foundation is a foundation that aims to enable everyone with a disability to exercise. Not only because of the physical function that sport has, but also because of the social role that sport fulfills in many people's lives. The Dirk Kuyt Foundation makes these sports possible for many people with a disability by focusing on adapted forms of sports. This could be wheelchair tennis, G-football, a topfit program and so on. This year, Kraket was able to contribute to this charity. Just like last year, we organised a charity auction where we were able to raise 911 euros!
Furthermore, some members went to Hartekamp Groep in Haarlem where they gave a sports class to people with a mental and/or physical disability. Which gave the participants of the sports class, as well as our members a good day.
2019-2020 Johan Cruijff Foundation
Previous year the Charity Committee organised an afternoon of baking apple pies with elderly. Pieke and I really liked the authenticity of this event. However, the harsh reality was that only a relatively small group of Kraket members wanted to clear their schedule for this event. Because of this Pieke and I wanted to think of ways to include more Kraket members regarding the Charity activities of Kraket. This started at the first ALV. A big majority of the attendees voted in favour of the Johan Cruijff Foundation.
We directly came up with the idea of organising a big sports event. We want to motivate as many kids as possible for sports. However, the winter is not the best moment to have such an event. Therefore, we decided to move the sport event to the summer and come up with another event in February. I have to give Sven his credits. He came up with the fantastic idea of the “Kraket Charity Auction”. Pieke and I were sold. We really liked the idea. There was only one problem. We didn’t have that much time. A lot of stuff had to be taken care of. The two most important things were the location and of course the auction items.
We had no idea how many Kraket members were interested in coming to the auction. 20, 30, 40? A few brainstorm sessions later we came up with the idea of holding the auction at the “Tuinzaal” at the WN-building of our university.
Together we came up with the idea of letting other people think of auction items. All the committees had to come up with at least one item. Pieke almost forced them. This was a great idea in two ways. Firstly, the committees came up with great ideas. Every new item was even crazier than the latter. Secondly, because of the participation of all the committees, the auction started to live. In our opinion, this had to do a great deal with the success. Later, in approximately three weeks before the auction we had another idea. Why not ask the sponsors of Kraket to donate something to auction. Finaps and MIcompany really liked the idea. They were more than happy to donate something. Finaps even donated an Apple Thunderbolt display!
The auction itself was a blast in my opinion. I was feeling a little nervous in the beginning. However, after a few items these nerves went away. I knew we were doing well and if everything went on this way our expectations would be crushed. It did, the members of Kraket donated €880,- in total. Way more than we expected!
Of course there were a few things, which could be improved. We really hope the next Charity committee will take these things in account and will continue with the Kraket Charity Auction. Let’s make the Kraket Charity Auction an annual tradition!
2017-2018 Foundation Move
Two committees of students were formed at the beginning of the year, both of which started a collaboration with a primary school: El Kadisia in Amsterdam-West and De Tamboerijn in Gaasperdam. We went to work on the basis of four sessions at primary school. The first session was an introduction, for both the children and the students. The session after that was a neighborhood survey, to see what could be improved in the neighborhood based on the chosen theme. The children of El Kadisia set to work with the theme 'Safety and Well-being' and the children of De Tamboerijn with the theme 'Encounter and Contact'. Session three was all about choosing: where would the class and the students get to work together? At El Kadisia the choice was made for a cleaner neighborhood, and by decorating a number of trash cans they tried to improve this. The children of De Tambourijn chose to do something for their lonely neighbors, and organized a sports and games morning in Gaasperdam. The fourth session was the final preparation for the closing activity.
Between the sessions at the primary school, the children also visited the university. They have received a lecture about Pythagoras, got to know the VU through a quest and were able to play football on the campus square during the break. Many of the children had never been to the university or did not even know about the existence of the VU.
All in all it was a very instructive year for both children and students. The children have learned that they can get things done, and the students have learned how great it is to be able to do something for someone else. In this way we have been able to contribute to our beloved Amsterdam together.
2016-2017 The Salvation Army
This year we visited the Salvation Army. The Salvation Army is an organization that helps thousands of people every year with professional care and guidance. This is not only for homeless people, but also for people with addictions or other problems. The Salvation Army strives to have their clients integrate into society as well as possible. Contact with the outside world is therefore very important.
We organized an evening for the residents of Het Instroomhuis, where they could enjoy a dinner show. Three groups were classified; a cooking group, a group that was going to serve and an entertainment group. The chefs have done their utmost in the kitchen and were able to serve delicious soup and pasta through the excellent service. The residents liked it very much that they were served food once instead of standing in line to get food. The music in the background provided by the entertainers made the picture complete. Some of the residents were so enthusiastic that after dinner they also caught some notes! The evening was closed in Kraket style with a number of games and especially a lot of fun between our members and the residents of Het Instroomhuis!
Instead of donating money, we bought a foosball table for the residents, which you can see on the right picture. In this way the living room becomes cozier and the residents can get in touch with each other even more. The table has been well received by the residents!
We of the committee look back on a successful evening and a successful gift that we have made many people happy with!
2015-2016 Dance for Lyme
This year we have entered into a partnership with Dance for Lyme to support a good cause. Dance for Lyme is an initiative to ask for more attention for Lyme disease through dance performances and workshops. In the 2015/2016 academic year it was decided to donate money to this initiative. In exchange, we were allowed to follow a hip-hop workshop. A group of more than 25 Kraketters got a choreography on the beats of 'Get Ugly' by Jason Derulo and their dance skills improved considerably. After this intensive session, another drink was drunk with the instructors of Dance for Lyme. The donated amount is donated to Dance for Lyme to Stichting Tekenbeetziekten, just like any other donation.
The Stichting Tekenbeetziekten was founded out of an urgent need for more complete information about the broad spectrum of tick-borne diseases and for raising funds for research. For years, tick-borne diseases, such as Lyme disease, have been underexposed. In the Netherlands, attention has only been paid to this problem for a number of years.
The Stichting Tekenbeetziekten (Foundation for tick-borne diseases) wants to promote awareness, sufficient attention and the fullest possible knowledge of tick-bite diseases and limit the consequences these diseases can have as much as possible. The Foundation focuses on fundraising to make a financial contribution to prioritizing and promoting research.
