While the start of the volunteer day was postponed in some places due to inclement weather, we at the botanical Garden, on the contrary, met half an hour earlier. We accepted the offer to visit the exhibition of live tropical butterflies before the greenhouse was maintained and opened to the public. The rainy day thus began in a colorful and positive way.
And we could start our work. We were welcomed by Pavol Mártonfi, Director of the Botanical Garden of the UPJŠ in Košice, and Elena Petrášková, Vice president and General Counsel of the USSK, also gave introductory remarks. This year, she took the botanical garden under her patronage and brought with her quite a few volunteer hands.
A loyal fan of the botanical garden, Kosmas Bekiaris, "anchored" himself in the workshop, where he painted metal structures and mesh, which required precise work. Not too much, not too little paint, just enough - so that it wouldn't run down the mesh. Like a true master, he even improved a tool that made his work easier.
The supporting columns of the gazebo, which was originally supposed to serve as our background in case of nice weather, were treated with a new coat of paint by Radoslav Kužila and his daughter Nikola, who is also our scholarship holder.
The largest group of volunteers gathered under the roof of the greenhouse: Diana Mašlánová, Martina Malegová, Radoslav Tomčo with her family, Žaneta Sadvárová, Kamila Piekarová, Lucia Hlucháňová, Elena Petrášková with her daughter, Milan Beličák, Róbert Gonda, Marián Vranay, Eva Stanová, Igor Horňák, Viera Veresová, Zuzana Sýkorová, Jana Radianská with her friend, Monika Falisová, scholarship holders Matúš Farkaš and Jakub Hlucháň,... They sanded and painted all twenty park benches that the garden has. The botanical garden employees then used a truck to move all the benches under the central gazebo to free up space for further work. The greenhouse suddenly turned into an anthill, in which everyone played their own role. Together, they filled large-capacity flower pots and raised beds with substrate.
Deputy Director of the UPJŠ Botanical Garden, Robert Gregorek, praised what was accomplished:
"The colleagues from the steelworks did not let themselves be embarrassed and showed that they are used to overcoming obstacles. Minor complications caused by the weather roused them to an even more amazing performance and they really did a very useful job. They fixed the park path that we once created together. They gave it a new look for the upcoming season. They also painted the metal structures, which we did not even believe we would have time to do. The guys even surprised us by painting the workshop gate, which no longer looked very attractive. We have also treated the legs of our central gazebo, which needed it very much. All our mobile park benches have been treated and received a new coat of paint. In the greenhouse, we managed to transport a huge amount of substrate into large-capacity flower pots, as well as into the raised beds that we use in the summer. This is an amazing result, many thanks to colleagues from U. S. Steel, they were incredibly helpful this year, too."
How did the volunteers liked the day?
Kamila Štyráková: "We cleaned the park path and poured gravel over it. In a group of several people, it quickly "sanded away". It's a good feeling when you look back and see how much work you left behind."
Marián Vranay: “The Botanical Garden is my favorite, I come here regularly. The weather wasn’t ideal, but everything was manageable. Today I mainly had a shovel in my hands, I had a great time working, there was a great team here.”
Kosmas Bekiaris: “It’s been more than ten years since I’ve been coming here to help. I like it here, I like coming back every year.”
Radoslav Tomčo: “It was a great event to help revitalize the Botanical Garden, it was great to cooperate with colleagues outside the USSK grounds, we met many people we don’t normally meet and we found out that we have a lot in common.” His wife added: “I’m from the Leisure Center and since you supported our projects, I’m very happy that I came to help you today.”
Martina Malegová: “Last year I helped at the shelter, this is my first time here at the botanical garden. I came to support our team from the legal department. It was nice to get together outside of working hours and do something good.”
Elena Petrášková: “In the past, we have helped at the shelter for years, not only during Volunteer Day, but also outside of it. We also went to the children’s home on Uralská Street. This is my first time at the botanical garden and I am very happy that so many of our employees came to help. I last visited the botanical garden years ago and I really like how it has changed. Today I saw places here that were improved during Steelmakers for Košice events and I am very moved by how many things were done here by our employees. They have done a lot of work here over the years. I thank all our employees for coming today and I am looking forward to next year, we will come again. Definitely.”
Photo Gallery: Arpad Köteles
