"Our urban society would be much poorer without you"

Volunteer fire departments, childcare, telephone counseling, cultural associations - without volunteers, much of Jena's public life would not exist or would not exist in its usual form. "The city is very aware of the special importance of volunteering for our community," said Lord Mayor Dr. Thomas Nitzsche at the celebration for volunteers in the historic town hall. At least once a year, he therefore wanted to use the gesture of this event to express his thanks to a few volunteers on behalf of the many others.

The city has been inviting volunteers to a thank-you event for many years. More than 50 clubs, associations, services, daycare centers and schools as well as individuals from Jena had submitted proposals for participation in this evening and nominated people who do special work on a voluntary basis, which is enormously important for other people and could not or hardly be done otherwise. Around 170 volunteers were nominated and more than 100 accepted the invitation.

Volunteer card awarded for the first time at a big thank-you ceremony

For the first time, the Volunteer Card from the Volunteer Advisory Board was also presented at this ceremony: this year, all 66 men and women nominated received such a card, which they can use to take advantage of discounted offers from JenaKultur and the Jena swimming pools, among others. Other sponsors of the volunteer card are Roma Bowling and the Goethe Pharmacy.

The Lord Mayor expressly thanked the volunteers for their commitment, time, energy and care. "Volunteering is not a function that is fulfilled, it is humanity in action," said Nitzsche. "Without you, our urban society would be much poorer - it is actually unthinkable how our lives could and should function." He encouraged the guests to continue with their important work and to encourage others to join in.

Prof. Dr. Sylvia Sänger provided good arguments for volunteering. The professor of medical education at the SRH University of Applied Sciences for Health on the Gera campus gave a very amusing lecture on the topic of "Cheerful volunteering - recharging your batteries with humor". The formations from the Jena artistry studio TOLEDOS also provided entertainment and excitement with their performances. After the official program, the Lord Mayor took the opportunity to talk to the volunteers and find out more about their worries and joys.

66 Männer und Frauen erhielten die Ehrenamtscard als Dankeschön.

© Stadt Jena

Background information:

There are no official and reliable figures on civic engagement in Germany. Estimates assume that around one in three people are involved in some form of voluntary work. Applied to Jena, this would be up to 30,000 people who volunteer on a large or small scale.