Friend of the East is the name of the award presented to Rastislav Šelepský on February 6 in the official part of the gala evening held at the Kulturpark in Košice to mark the occasion of the 25th anniversary of the Carpathian Foundation. Rastislav Šelepský works as maintenance supervisor in the Steel Plants division, and in his spare time he runs the Friends of Trstené Country civic association, which has been successful in carrying out several public-benefit activities.

They have been assisted in these activities with grants from the Together for the Region program, which is run jointly by U. S. Steel Košice and the Carpathian Foundation and has been supporting local community projects for the for the last thirteen years. The group of enthusiasts around Rasťo Šelepský have revitalized one of the oxbow lakes on the river Hornád, planted out a lime-tree avenue alongside the cycle path from Trstené to Skároš, and engaged young people in the revival of bee-keeping in the village. “I realized some time ago that unless we start taking an active interest ourselves in where and how we live, the things around us will simply not change,” said Rasťo on accepting the award from Carpathian Foundation Board of Trustees member and U. S. Steel Košice Vice President Elena Petrašková.