Recognition for children's charity
The times of economic and social crises in Serbia have imposed the need to strengthen compassion and solidarity with growing groups of vulnerable citizens, and above all with the most vulnerable of all - children.
In accordance with its basic program goal to protect and promote children's rights, in compliance with its mission to advocate for a happier and richer childhood of each child as the foundation of his/her better future, the Friends of Children of Serbia decided to encourage and emphasize the tradition of charity. That is why the Dandelion Recognition was established in 2010 as a sign of gratitude to individuals who, with their work, material and immaterial contributions, humanity and altruism, make this world more beautiful and benevolent for children.
For the name of the Charter, the name of a modest, but widespread flower was chosen, which is useful in many ways - as a medicine, food, decoration.
The winner of the Award is decided every year by the Board of Directors of the Organization.
Winners
In 2010, Miodrag Stanojević, a retired architect, donated his real estate, two apartments in Belgrade, to the municipality of Savsi Venac to be used in the most purposeful way for children. Those housing units are currently the temporary location of the Parents' House.
2011. Milica Spasojevic, a housewife from the village near Gornji Milanovac, who raised fifty children from all over Serbia as a foster mother in her home. She proudly remained the "mother" of all those grown-up, good and honest people today, whom she never separated from her three children.
2012 Ružica Popović, a philanthropist from Šabac, who adapted, equipped and turned her 100-square-meter house into a Day Care Center for Children with Developmental Disabilities, and founded the Human Heart Foundation to help the poorest people in Šabac.
2013. Mila Alijoski, a midwife from Belgrade, who has been preparing pregnant women for more than 50 years to make it easier to give birth to a baby, and has so far helped the birth of more than 100,000 babies.
2014. Ljubinka - Buba Milovanović, coordinator of the NGO "Life Aid", has been selflessly helping the needy, people from the margins, and especially children, for years. With great perseverance and renunciation, Vranje's "Mother Teresa" makes happy and helps poor, sick and marginalized children.
2015. Jovan Simić, student from Belgrade. Seeing the appeal of the parents of a seriously ill girl on Facebook, Jovan decided to bring to the auction the most valuable thing he has - a collection of jerseys of famous football players that he collected over the years. Through humanitarian actions to help children who are struggling with serious diseases, Jovan managed to gather athletes and citizens and unite them in the noble mission of helping children.
2016. Milorad Jurković, musician by profession, carpenter out of love - known to the public as carpenter Mile. This warm-hearted man has so far made over 600 baby feeders and donated them to those who need them but are unable to buy them. She helps families and public institutions, donates to single parents and children with disabilities. And what is most beautiful, when the children outgrow the obtained chairs, the families give them away, to some new babies who have grown up to be fed. The humane mission of the carpenter Mileta continues and expands.
2017 Uroš Mijalković from Pirot, a young man who is one of the initiators of a real action of intergenerational solidarity realized by high school graduates in Pirot. Uroš and his entire generation of peers decided to spend the prom night dressed in jeans and cotton T-shirts, and to collect the money they would spend on the purchase of formal suits, expensive dresses, make-up and shoes for those who need it. And they succeeded! Dressed in T-shirts with the inscription "Be someone's hero too!", They had an unforgettable prom night, had a wonderful time, and paid the amount of over 700,000 dinars they collected in the action for the treatment of the three youngest citizens.
In 2018, Branka Veselinović is an actress who has acted in more than 100 plays in the theater and more than fifty television series and films, but also a great humanist and philanthropist since her youngest days. The number of children and people she helped is much, much higher than the number of her roles in theater, television and film. Together with her husband Mlađa, she founded the Branka and Mlađa Veselinović Fund for Helping Disabled Children, and since 1980, she has been a UNICEF ambassador for four years.
Even today, Branka tirelessly visits homes for children without parental care, children with disabilities, and pensioners in homes for the elderly.
Even today, Branka tirelessly visits homes for children without parental care, children with disabilities, and pensioners in homes for the elderly.
In 2019, Zoran Martinov is an activist from Zrenjanin, the initiator and president of the Plug for Handicap association . He launched the initiative in 2012, and so far over 400 tons of corks have been collected, of which 98 orthopedic aids were purchased, of which over 60% went to children.
In 2020, Aleksandra Aleksandrović is a pianist from Novi Sad, she invested her creativity and energy in designing and making specialized masks for children and people with hearing impairments. Protective masks make it impossible to read from the lips and communicate, and Alexandra's idea solved this problem and made life easier for the most vulnerable in a pandemic.
