COCA-COLA LAUNCHES THE "50 PLACES FOR A GOOD DEED" PROJECT AS PART OF 50TH ANNIVERSARY CELEBRATIONS ANNIVERSARY OF COCA-COLA BEVERAGES ON THE MARKET

WE HELP SO THAT YOU ARE ABLE TO HELP

Coca-Cola first appeared on the Czechoslovak market 50 years ago.  On the occasion of this anniversary, the Coca-Cola System has decided to launch the charity project "50 places for a good deed", which will provide free first aid courses at 30 locations in the Czech Republic and another 20 in Slovakia. The aim of the project is to support the staff of children's homes and various non-profit organizations who help a wide range of people. Up to 500 members of staff from the non-profit sector should be able to complete the course. In the Czech Republic, Coca-Cola will organise the courses in cooperation with the Tereza Maxová Foundation for Children, as well as trained professionals from the Czech Red Cross. In Slovakia, the project runs in cooperation with the Úsmev ako dar Foundation and the Slovak Red Cross.

"Symbolically, for every year that Coca-Cola has been in the Czech Republic and Slovakia, we will organise, in cooperation with the Czech Red Cross, one free one-day first aid course accredited by the Ministry of Labour and Social Affairs at 50 selected locations in both countries," said Patricie Šedivá, Coca-Cola HBC Public Relations and Communications Manager, whose words are complemented by Jan Václav Kašpar, Coca-Cola HBC CSR Manager: "The basic idea of the project is based on the assumption that anyone who acquires the necessary knowledge and training in advance has a better chance of saving another person's life in a crisis situation. In this way, we want to support the staff of children's homes, shelters, and non-profit organizations who help other groups of people and provide them with the opportunity for personal development in this area."

"As part of our golden anniversary, we have decided to share the celebrations with those who really need support in our society. Together with our long-term partners from the non-profit sector, the Czech Red Cross and the Tereza Maxová Children's Foundation, we have decided to provide important professional skills to staff from children's homes or shelter workers so that they can continue to help their clients, who are both children and adults in need. This project goes hand in hand with our long-term efforts to help young adults who have not been as lucky as others in their lives," says Veronika Němcová, Director of Public Relations, Communications and Sustainability at Coca-Cola CZ/SK.

Every one of us can save a life

The Coca-Cola first aid workshop is designed as a one day course led by trained medical professionals from the Czech Red Cross. It is accredited by the Ministry of Labour and Social Affairs of the Czech Republic and focuses particularly on the main principles and correct basic first aid procedures, both in theory and in practice. Participants will have the opportunity to try out a number of staged crisis situations on their own and test their knowledge using interactive resuscitation dummies and visualizations. This first aid training should motivate participants, encourage their willingness to help others and increase their self-confidence.

"I am very pleased that a project supporting health and saving lives is being considered as part of the celebration of the 50th anniversary of such a phenomenon as Coca-Cola. I perceive first aid training as very necessary and especially in the sports industry you realize the importance of these basic steps. I know from my own experience that a practical demonstration of first aid and the associated self-confidence is absolutely crucial for saving a life," says Olympian David Svoboda.

“Every five seconds somewhere in the world, one person dies as the result of an injury. However, we can change this, because in crisis situations, people as we all are, save each others lives in 90 percent of cases,” says Kateřina Jarolímová, lecturer and education manager for the Czech Red Cross "In our first aid courses, we do not focus only on theory, but we try to imitate real situations for the participants, so that they can experience everything as realistically as possible, overcome their fear and then be able to react promptly, and if necessary, to provide first aid in everyday life," adds Jarolímová from the Czech Red Cross.

The Tereza Maxová Children's Foundation is a partner of the "50 Places for a Good Deed" project in the Czech Republic and will also participate in the organisation of the first aid workshops. "We have been working with Coca-Cola on various successful charity projects for a long time, so we did not hesitate to get involved in this case either. The "50 Places for a Good Deed" project will provide first aid education not only to the adults who attend the courses directly, but also indirectly to the children whom these adults are in daily contact with. In the end, it really is about the health and well being of all of us. We never know in advance what situation we might find ourselves in," says Tereza Sverdlinová, the director of the Tereza Maxová Foundation, about the project.

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Coca-Cola has been devoted to good causes for a considerable time already. The "50 Places for a Good Deed" project is, among other things, a follow-up to the successful "You can do it!" project, which aims to support the growth and education of young people who are disadvantaged in some way compared to others. It was launched in 2017 and since the start it has helped more than seven thousand young people in their personal development through a series of educational workshops and motivational training courses.