For the 5th consecutive year, the Vodafone Romania Foundation is involved in the community of Costești, Argeș, helping build a better future for the children of Costești.
The Vodafone Romania Foundation and the Hercules Association are running the ,,Stay in School" project in 2016-2017, through which 50 children who attend the educational activities at the Hercules Day Center daily receive monthly study scholarships.
,,After 10 years of community intervention, we know that any successful educational project must include a poverty reduction component and material aid for children and their families. Poverty remains—in our community and across most rural areas in Romania—the primary cause of school dropout. Children at the Hercules Center receive two meals a day, after-school educational support, and —since 2016— a scholarship provided by the Vodafone Romania Foundation. They can use this scholarship for books, clothes, school supplies, or food —anything that helps them attend school better prepared and cared for.” says Petruța Stănescu, founder of the Hercules Day Center and executive director of the Hercules Association.
The Vodafone Romania Foundation has been present and involved in the Costești community since 2011, when it financed for the first time the operation of the only Day Center for children in the community, the Hercules Day Center. Since then, the Vodafone Romania Foundation has invested over €200,000 in the present and future of more than 1,000 children from Costești and the neighboring villages.
The Hercules Day Center is the only community center in the southern part of Argeș County and the only support point for vulnerable children and families in the community. Founded by the Hercules Association in 2007, the Hercules Center provides quality social services, supports the children’s education and offers access to quality non-formal education.
Details about the Stay in School project here
