IF YOU WANT 100 YEARS OF PROSPERITY, INVEST IN PEOPLE

Today our adventure revolves around a unique department within the Community Support
Foundation, as its beneficiaries are volunteers themselves, the department is called "Personal
Development". Within this department, team-building activities are organised, such as ted-talks, in
which various people are invited from whom young people can learn, or even activities dedicated to
socialising, because obviously the key to optimal cooperation between volunteers during activities is
friendship.
The primary aim of this department, from its early stages, has been to encourage volunteers to
become the best version of themselves, so that their performance in volunteering is not sub unitary,
as in physics, but rather super unitary. So young people have the opportunity to interact in an
informal setting, to listen to inspirational stories that can inspire them to make an improvement in
their lives or to find out what the different professions they aspire to entail, in the "What's right for
me?" series.
The advantages of this department are the variety it offers, addressing all volunteers, regardless of
their principles, interests, the projects they work on or the way they relate to the world, and of
course the educational purpose behind the meetings.
The coordinators of this department are Mădălina Ghinea and Larisa Marcociu, two committed
volunteers eager to facilitate the interaction between the volunteers of the Community Support
Foundation. They are passionate about personal development in general, which they try to bring to
the attention of all young volunteers through the activities they organise almost weekly.
"Why did you choose to run the <<Personal Development>> department?"
"Ever since the idea of the department was presented in a meeting I knew I would like it. I attended
a summer school where I was part of the personal development club and loved it. I just saw the
opportunities behind it and realized how much it would help volunteers make connections, find their
way and grow." (Mădălina Ghinea, coordinator)
"I'll tell you honestly, at the beginning I wasn't even 50% sure I understood what I was going to do.
Even now I'm not, but together with Mădă we managed to do pretty well, to put together more than
20 personal development activities. In short, when Gabi announced the launch of this department, I
simply wanted to organise activities, to implement my ideas." (Larisa Marcociu, coordinator)
"What activities are carried out in this department?"
"We started with group activities, team-building games, and continued with the <<What suits
me?">> series which is still ongoing, where we had speakers from fields such as medicine 💉,
management 💻, or architecture🏰. They talked about how volunteering helped them get there,
their journey, and what it really means to love the job you do. The goal is to help volunteers figure
out what profession they want to choose, getting valuable information from people who have
excelled in what they choose to do." (Mădălina Ghinea, coordinator)
"What, from your perspective as a coordinator, are the strengths and weaknesses of the
department?"
"I think the weaknesses are the limitation of participants in the activities and the risk of creating
monotony, and by that I mean the topics covered, location etc.
However, to end on a cheerful note, this department excels in providing information. The flexibility
of the activities (from speakers, personality tests, team-building and so on) is also a positive aspect,
as is the collaboration between the coordinators." (Larisa Marcociu, coordinator)
"How do you think the activities of the <<Personal Development>> department helped you to
discover yourself?"
"As a result of the activities I learned how to adapt more easily to changes, to develop my own
potential, these helped me to improve my relationships with those around me." (Miruna Miron,
volunteer)
"What was your favourite activity in the <<Personal Development>> department?"
"My favourite activity in the department was the first one, where Andreea Lichi came and told us the
story of her accident. It really touched me and will stay with me for a long time. Thanks to that
activity I chose to be part of the <<Lobby&Advocacy>> department" (Miruna Miron, volunteer).
"My favourite activity in the <<Personal Development>> department was the most recent one, when
I had Dr. Mircea Purcaru as a guest, who talked about his profession, about the university and about
his volunteering period. This activity was really helpful because I realized what medical school really
means and I realized that it is not a job that I wouldn't do for pleasure." (Larisa Ungureanu,
volunteer)
Concluding, in case you have been wondering until now what is behind the success of the
Community Support Foundation, I think the above lines have given you an answer: the "Personal
Development" department. So, it is clear that the Community Support Foundation invests time in its
volunteers so that their potential can be harnessed to the fullest, for as a famous Chinese quote says
"If you want a year of prosperity, grow wheat. If you want 10 years of prosperity, plant trees. If you
want 100 years of prosperity, invest in people".
By Gălățanu Mariela Rodica