The broadest public fundraising campaign for visually impaired to kick off across Czechia

Mobility and orientation exercises, training of guide dogs and employment support for people with visual impairments. These are only a fraction of the activities which will be supported by the proceeds of the Bílá pastelka campaign, with its 27-year history of helping the visually impaired within the Czech Blind United (SONS) organisation.

Mid-October is the peak season for their activities with thousands of volunteers taking to the streets around the country. In return for a donation of CZK 40, donors receive a symbolic white crayon –evocative of a white cane – which represents the courage to overcome the daily challenges associated with sight loss.

Proceeds from the campaign will help fund specialist services for people who are blind or partially sighted. Most common assistive devices are personal computers, new white canes or phones for the blind.

Irena Hořejší, PR Manager for the Bílá pastelka campaign explains the extensiveness of activities and the size of the team.

“Around 2,000 pairs of volunteers, often secondary school students, will take to the streets of towns and cities across Bohemia and Moravia, as in previous years. They will be the faces of this year’s Bílá pastelka campaign. Donations can be made in cash or by QR code.”

From the proceeds SONS finances a wide variety of programs. For instance, for eight years now its beneficiaries have been receiving recommendations for activities through the online platform VIS-IMP. Those include cultural events, theatre plays, yoga or even football matches at SK Slavia Prague or AC Sparta Prague, where a visually impaired guest receives headphones with a live commentary.

Help in securing work on the Czech labour market is also one of the big issues being addressed.

Vladimír Dvořák, ICT specialist at VZP, the biggest Czech insurance company, says that even though there is a rising number of programs for blind people, it’s still very hard for the visually handicapped to find a position. Job bureaus try to integrate the handicapped, but companies, who are considering this option receive very little support from the state. Very often in the form of tax deductions.

“SONS activities and Bílá Pastelka events spread awareness among the public, but the government should proactively promote inclusion.”

Similarly as in UNICEF’s latest campaign Paddington's Postcards for Children, charity organizations are seeking to come up with new formats of either regular donations or charity gatherings. The Bílá pastelka combines these factors in a new initiative called Minuta dobra (A Minute for Good).

PR manager Irena Hořejší explains the motivation to broaden the charity effort.

“The Bílá pastelka campaign is traditionally associated with volunteers in the streets. Minuta dobra also gives people who do not meet them on their way, or who prefer to donate online, the opportunity to take part. All it takes is one minute, and everyone can help support people with visual impairments.”

The public can participate in the Minuta dobra initiative at any time or when they come across a poster with a QR code where the pre-set value is 200 CZK.

Let say at their local café, for example at Prague’s Divadelní kavárna Studio DVA, which supports this campaign. It is located a few metres from SONS headquarters at Krakovská street and it is also a few meters from the Wenceslas Square, where the results of the first Minuta dobra campaign will be announced at the Concert for the Bílá pastelka on 14 October at 6:30 p.m.

The programme will include performances by artists with visual impairments, a guide dog demonstration and a concert by singer Šimon Opp, who will also perform a duet with a young blind singer.

For more go to SONS website: https://www.sons.cz/

SONS and Bílá pastelka also offer a fundraising option running throughout the year. Donors can contribute by bank transfer to the transparent fundraising account 8888332222/0800, by DMS text donation, through Darujme.cz, or by donating to collection boxes shaped like plush guide dogs located across the Czech Republic.