Creating a world where everyone feels valued
CANPACK has been partnering with Krakow’s Latarnia Association on outreach projects that create a sense of belonging and integration in the local community.
The Latarnia Association (Polish for ‘lantern’ or ‘lighthouse’) is a not-for-profit organisation established in 2017. Latania’s mission is to “connect people who need help with those who want to give help” and to be “a place where relationships restore the joy of life”. In addition to typical charitable activities, it attaches great importance to education, family support and intergenerational integration.
Caring and sharing: feel the trust and understanding
The partnership with CANPACK began in 2021 with a request for help to co-finance a vehicle for transporting senior citizens to local events. This was followed by distributing small gifts inscribed ‘CANPACK FEEL GOOD’ to homeless or isolated elderly people.
Next, the Latarnia Association became part of CANPACK’s annual ‘FEEL HOPE’ campaign with company volunteers preparing pierogi dumplings for Christmas packages. The following year, the volunteer aid expanded with personalised gifts and fundraising for essential utensils such as a gas cooker and a washing machine to facilitate Latarnia’s operations.
In 2023, a new project called ‘Summer Enchanted in Glass’ was launched. This project involved CANPACK volunteers making preserves, pickles, juices, soups, and other goodies in jars and distributing them to seniors across the city.
Psychologist and Latarnia Vice-President Anna Kucharska-Zygmunt observes: “It’s not just about the soup or preserves – the most important thing is the interpersonal contact.”
The volunteers are touched and changed by the experience too. As project coordinator Violetta Szopa-Tomczyk points out:
“They get to know our work, find out why it’s important, and we see people who are happy to do something different than what they generally do at work every day. And I think it’s always a win-win for both sides.”
Ongoing initiatives: feeling hopeful for the future
Since then, the partnership with Latarnia has been quietly going from strength to strength. In 2024 representatives of the Association were invited to CANPACK’s head office to participate in the company’s internal CSR Day.
There is also a very practical initiative to finance the renovation of a bathroom as part of the CANPACK Foundation’s grants to various organisations.
Another successful volunteer project this year has been a “Culinary Trip Around the World in One Summer” funded by the “30 Grants for 30 Years of CANPACK Can” programme.
This entailed organising a series of culinary workshops for up to 40 seniors — often people who live alone — giving them an opportunity to cook dishes from five different parts of the world and to learn about the history, customs and culture of those countries.
The creative culinary adventure rounded off with a bread-making workshop and a joint CANPACK/Latarnia trip to the valleys near Krakow, to enjoy the sunshine (hopefully!) and try delicious local trout.
Small is beautiful, feel the closeness
It might seem that these little, homely schemes are small compared to the scale of global problems, but the value of small associations is precisely their knowledge of the local community.
Magdalena Pająk, CANPACKS’s Group CSR Coordinator, shared this outlook when reaffirming the company’s continuing commitment to supporting the work of The Latarnia Association:
“We can significantly support the mission of Latarnia through the dedicated involvement of our employees. Although it’s small, its spirit and efficiency make it a great organisation that is really close to the people it helps. This responsibility for the local community and its needs, fostering closeness despite the lack of big structures and resources, is what won us over”.
As Association Treasurer, Aleksander Tomczyk, puts it: “Helping just one person is like saving the whole world. Being small means we are very close to each other in one-on-one relationships.”
And CANPACK staff agree with this insight. Nadiia Golovan, CANPACK’s Regional HR Manager reports:
“I know that it has a positive impact on these people. On the one hand, it seems like a small step, but on the other, I believe that it’s with such small steps we change the world for the better”
Smiles all around and feelings of joy
Others enthuse that the whole experience left them “with huge smile on our faces” and that they can’t wait to get involved in next year’s events. New friendships are forged across the teams of volunteers, across generations and across the community.
These simple gestures of kindness build relationships filled with warmth and laughter that clearly work to everyone’s benefit. Sharing time and resources with those less fortunate is uplifting and transformative for everyone involved.
In the words of psychologist and Latarnia Association Vice President Anna Kucharska-Zygmunt: “Their gratitude and smiles are what give us wind under our wings.
“This partnership is just one of the many ways we’re delivering on our commitment to making a difference in society and creating a feeling of belonging in communities worldwide.”