Armed with sandpaper, paintbrushes and gardening tools, some 500 employees woke up to a completely different day of work yesterday as they donated their time to refurbish parts of residential homes and other institutions.
With a bit of my help I can help people be happy
“I felt it would be nice to give some of my time to help others,” said Miriam Zammit, as she helped paint the corridors at Mount Carmel Hospital’s male rehabilitation ward.
Andrew Thake, 12, who was there with his mother, said it was a good thing to offer support to those less fortunate. “With a bit of my help I can help people be happy,” he said.
Isabella Cilia, who was painting the living area, agreed: “It’s a nice thing to do and we enjoy it. It’s also nice to meet your colleagues outside the usual work environment.”
They were among the employees, from seven different companies, who carried out works at Mount Carmel Hospital in Attard, St Therese Home in Żurrieq, Dar Merħba Bik in Balzan, Dar il-Wens in Kalkara, Dar Qalb ta’ Ġesu in Sta Venera, St Joseph Home in Sta Venera, Caritas’s San Blas shelter and Arka respite centre in Gozo. This is the 11th consecutive year that the day of volunteering was organised on the feast of St Joseph the Worker, a public holiday.
President George Abela, who visited the work going on at Mount Carmel, said he likened the feast to Father’s Day and spoke about the important role of the father within the family.
Archbishop Paul Cremona spoke about the value of volunteering that helped people discover a part of themselves that could only be filled by helping others.
The Prime Minister’s wife, Kate Gonzi, who chairs the HSBC Malta Foundation, said she was glad to see how 11 years after the foundation started this initiative, more companies had joined. She thanked the volunteers for their priceless work. Community Care Parliamentary Secretary Mario Galea was also present.
The companies that participated this year included: Arrow Pharma, Deloitte, Farsons Group, Gasan Group of Companies, HSBC, MSV Life and Tumas Group.