260 children and young people receive free learning support in the nine learning cafés across Carinthia. These are young people whose parents are unable to support them in getting a good education themselves. By the end of 2024, donations and endowments totaling EUR 66,098 had flowed into the "Du & Wir Foundation". Of this, EUR 26,098 will go to the Caritas learning cafés on the occasion of the social foundation's one-year anniversary. The aid organization says THANK YOU!
Goodbye school, yay for the holidays: second-grader Elion (name changed) is starting his leisure activities full of pride about his math grade in his semester report. The eight-year-old elementary school student thought for a long time: "I just can't do math." When he came to the Caritas learning café because of a lack of learning support options in his area, the boy had great problems with this main subject. The multiplication tables would not go into his head. Subtraction tasks confused him, and multiplication seemed an unsolvable puzzle. Bad grades and frustration made learning even more difficult for Elion. But in the learning café, the student received targeted support from dedicated learning assistants: Some regularly took time for him, practiced the multiplication tables with him, repeated the basic arithmetic operations over and over and tried out various
pedagogical approaches. Sometimes they worked playfully with arithmetic cubes, sometimes with colorful cards or small math competitions - until it finally "clicked".
One year of the “Du & Wir Foundation” – what it achieves
In order to enable children like Elion to receive a good education, the "Du & Wir Foundation", founded under the umbrella of the non-profit Caritas Foundation Austria, supports long-term social projects such as the Caritas learning cafés in Carinthia. By the end of 2024, the "Du & Wir Foundation" had received donations and endowments totaling 66,098 euros as part of various banking activities. Of this, 19,608 euros came in within just one year via the 1,634 newly opened "Du & Wir accounts", with the opening of which BKS Bank customers receive an attractive service package and thus automatically make a social contribution. The remaining contribution of 6,490 euros came from various calls for donations. 40,000 euros were recorded as pure donations. Including interest credits and capital gains, the foundation's assets amounted to EUR 551,876.24 as of December 31, 2024.
Nikolaus Juhász, Chairman of the Board of BKS Bank, is delighted with "these great sums, which show that our society has a great need for social commitment." Social commitment and helping to shape society are matters close to the heart of the listed BKS Bank, which has been living a holistic sustainability approach for many years. Juhász: "In a world in which education is the key to a better future, all children deserve the same chance of success - regardless of their social or financial background. This is exactly where the Caritas learning cafés come in with their excellent work, which is why we have decided with the foundation's advisory board to allow the first proceeds from our social foundation to benefit the learning cafés in the spirit of a sustainable contribution to equal opportunities."
success rate 99 percent
In the last school year, 99 (!) percent of the 260 children and young people aged between six and 15 who were looked after throughout Carinthia managed to move up to the next grade or to a middle or high school. This is thanks to the approximately 200 volunteer learning assistants who lovingly support the students with advice and assistance. In the learning cafés, the children and young people receive help with their homework and learning, as well as meaningful leisure activities. There is also a healthy snack.
Leave No Child Behind
Caritas director Ernst Sandriesser is delighted with the great and valuable donation for the learning cafés and thanks the BKS Bank for their trust and the excellent cooperation: "Thanks to their commitment, we can provide intensive educational support to the children and young people. A good education determines the social and professional development of children and young people. Anyone who has a good education stands on their own two feet. Education is the best way to prevent poverty, the best pension and health provision and the best investment in the economic future of a country. That is why we must not leave any child behind." The BKS Bank and Caritas Carinthia have been in a partnership for several years. The institute has already supported the children and young people in the learning café in Spittal an der Drau. In addition to financial support, BKS Bank employees are also personally involved in the facility.
Learning Assistants Wanted
Caritas is looking for volunteers to help with learning in its learning cafés, particularly in the main subjects of German, mathematics and English. If you enjoy working with children and young people and have around two hours of free time per week in the afternoon, please contact us via email: freiwillig@caritas-kaernten.at; phone: 0463/55 5 60-921. Compulsory interns are also very welcome.