In August, we published a call that we are looking for colleagues who would deserve to be nominated for an award by the Košice self-governing region. We found one. It is Ladislav Stupák, who works in the Teplá valcovňa divisional plant and is the founder and leader of the civil association Save Nature by Čivas. He spends his free time with colleagues and friends "cleaning" nature.
Last weekend, he also managed to get children from the settlement in Veľká Ida to work. Together they took care of the polluted stream.
"The low water level in the stream in Veľká Ida allowed us to clean the place where waste is caught on a fallen tree. Waste is washed here from the local settlement. Residents throw it directly into the stream, despite the fact that they have a container available. The children from the settlement have been working with us for the third year and we are very proud of them. They were able to collect 35 bags of waste in thirty minutes," explained Ladislav Stupák.
Children were rewarded for volunteering with sweets and fruit. How do they perceive such cleaning of nature?
"Children are always happy to experience something new. In the settlement, they have no space for sports, no one cares about them, they live their own lives. We also hold various competitions for them, thanks to which, for example, they learn how to sort waste. It is more difficult to teach the older generation to respect nature and not to pollute it. But we are making great progress with the children. I see hope in children."
Volunteers from the civic association, led by Ladislav Stupák, leave behind more than just pure nature.