The Foundation for Partnership and Civil Society Development

Feel Good Clubs: The first steps in creating new generations of philanthropists

At the beginning of this school year, we launched a pilot program for school-based philanthropic "Feel Good Clubs." Currently, we are implementing this program in several different formats across eight primary schools in Istria County: Giuseppina Martinuzzi (Pula),  dr. Mate Demarin (Medulin),  Matija Vlačić (Rabac), Vazmoslav Gržalja (Buzet),  Jurja Dobrine (Rovinj),  Jurja Dobrile (Rovinjsko Selo and Bale), and  Vodnjan - Dignano.

The goal of this program is to educate students about philanthropy and inspire them towards charity, empathy, inclusivity, teamwork, and awareness of social issues and community needs. The program consists of three phases: learning about philanthropy, familiarizing with the work of CSOs, and executing philanthropic actions, which empowers children to become responsible and empathetic citizens, building confidence to address certain community issues through philanthropic action (with adult facilitation).

So far, over one hundred children have joined the school-based philanthropic "Feel Good Clubs," and we are pleased to see this number steadily growing; we expect it to double by the end of this school year.

We are very satisfied with the initial results of this new program. The Feel Good Clubs introduce new and engaging topics into the classroom, impacting a generation of young people who will build a better society for us all through kindness and solidarity. We are having fun and learning together, witnessing students' interesting ideas and reflections, and we are proud to be the initiators of this process!