The work of the Hungarian Red Cross is extremely important in the life of the nation and the country, said the State Secretary of the Prime Minister's Office responsible for church and ethnic relations at the ceremony held on the occasion of World Volunteer Day in Budapest on Friday.

Miklós Soltész - who is also the president of the Constitutional Council - reminded us at the event of the WHC Group and the Hungarian Red Cross: this year marks the 140th anniversary of the Hungarian Red Cross and the 100th anniversary of the Hungarian Youth Red Cross. The state secretary added: it is no coincidence that the Red Cross has been a member of the Charity Council for more than twenty years, and of the National Humanitarian Coordination Council for about ten years.

He recalled: about 15 million volunteers and professionals work under the auspices of the Red Cross in 192 countries of the world, and they are present in every county and many settlements in Hungary. He added that this is why the government decided a few years ago to provide assistance to the Red Cross and five other charitable organizations through a unique support system in the European Union. Following this

The Red Cross can develop, renovate or renovate an area of ​​4,000 square meters at 11 locations with HUF 650 million, and buy computers, assistive devices and vehicles in order to be able to do its work more efficiently.

The state secretary praised the work of the Red Cross for the needy, the fallen, and for the entire nation, and highlighted how important its activities were and still are during the coronavirus epidemic. As he said, in the beginning, due to the closures, they had to do a completely different kind of work than now, when the country is more open, but the Red Cross - like most charitable organizations - was able to flexibly adapt to them.

Miklós Soltész emphasized at the press conference that the Hungarian Red Cross immediately took a role not only in the care of the needy and the fallen, but also in the organization of blood donations and in the work of the Regőczi Foundation, which was launched by the President of the Republic and his wife, helping children left orphaned or semi-orphaned as a result of the coronavirus epidemic.

At the ceremony - where the volunteers who performed outstanding work were recognized - Miklós Soltész emphasized that the greatest value is a person, so it is very important when someone helps others, giving their love and time. Miklós Soltész thanked the volunteers for their work at the ceremony.

At the press conference before the ceremony, Gábor Csató, Director General of the National Ambulance Service, spoke about

Rescue started in Hungary, the second in Europe, 134 years ago, with voluntary rescue associations, and this also shows how important volunteerism is in rescue, and perhaps it has never been as important as in the last two years.

As he said, in the past period, in addition to the 1.2 million rescue tasks, 1.7 samples were taken, 500,000 people were checked at the borders and 300,000 were taken to hospital with or suspected of infection. We were only able to do this with the help of volunteers - he noted, adding that the Red Cross volunteers working at the ambulance service have become comrades who work for the same goal, Hungarian patients.

István Kardos, the director general of the Hungarian Red Cross, spoke about how the basic principle of the Red Cross is volunteerism, and on World Volunteer Day they commemorate and thank the work of volunteers. He added: volunteering shows an inner value that is very important in difficult times.

He explained: he believes that by working together with the members of the Charitable Council and state institutions - such as the ambulance service, the National Center for Public Health or the National Blood Service - they can provide wider assistance to the Hungarian population.

Péter Berta, the managing director of WHC Group, which supports the event and deals with HR services, said: the epidemic situation has shown how much selfless assistance is needed, and he thanked the volunteers who are in contact with people and help them in times of trouble.

As he said, as an HR service company, they also work with people and when the Red Cross launched a campaign to recruit volunteers, they were happy to offer their recruitment channels and will continue to do so in the future if needed.

December 5 is World Volunteer Day, which was decided by the UN General Assembly on December 17, 1985.

MTI