Rector Pledges 1,000 EUR to Blanket Drive for the Homeless, an Initiative by Current and Former Alumni Scholarship Recipients

In February 2012, current and former Alumni Scholarship recipients Jagoda Gregulska, Aldina Muslija and Biljana Ilic organized a blanket drive and fundraising initiative to help Budapest's homeless survive the cold winter months. Within a week, the CEU community donated over 60 blankets, sleeping bags and duvets, more than 10 pillows, 18 bedsheets, two bags of winter clothes and counting!

Word of the cause's success quickly reached the CEU Rector, who immediately pledged 1,000 EUR to the drive and committed the university to making a matching donation of blankets after the community collection was finished.

In an effort to spread out the positive impact, the organizers have given the donations to several charitable organizations in Budapest, which in turn will distribute them to the people in need:

• the Red Cross, which received a significant number of the donated blankets;
• Golgota Homeless Ministry: an organization with a long-standing relationship with the university as CEU students, alumni and staff regularly volunteer there (also involved with this organization: the "CEU Care for the Homeless" project). The organization received blankets and clothing. 
• A local shelter for women, which requested and received 15 blankets from the campaign.
• A local children's orphanage, which received all donated children's clothes.

We are proud to announce that this outstanding campaign was initiated by our very own Alumni Scholarship recipients with the support of the Human RightS Initiative (HRSI) and the CEU Alumni Relations & Career Services office. It involved CEU students, faculty, alumni and staff. 

The "You Can Help!" blanket drive campaign has been an inspiration and a great example of how simple it can be for any one of us to make a difference. If you have an issue that you care about and would like to address with the support of the CEU community, please don't hesitate to write to youcanhelp@ceu.hu or alumni@ceu.hu for tips on how to make it happen. 

Aldina Muslija (Canada & Bosnia and Herzegovina, LEGS '12)

Alumni Scholarship Recipient 2011-12

Originally from Bosnia and Herzegovina, Aldina grew up in Toronto, Canada, where she has thrived as a leader and volunteer in her local community. In 2009, she received the Annual Community Leadership Award for her outstanding record of civic engagement and became the youngest member on the Board of Directors of the Institute for Research of Genocide in Canada. Her volunteer and awareness-raising efforts in the Srebrenica Remembrance Day campaign in 2010 contributed to the Canadian government's decision to adopt June 11th as a national Srebrenica Remembrance Day in the country. Aldina has also been involved in the activities of a number of charitable organizations in her native Toronto, including the Canadian Centre for Victims of Torture and War, where she volunteered to help victims of war and torture to integrate into Canadian society. She joined CEU as an Alumni Scholarship recipient in 2011. Read more about her.