Volunteering at SO – Mehtap Zorer’s time with Begegnungen 2005 charity
As recruitment experts in the energy and infrastructure market, our goal is to create careers to power a sustainable future and we believe it is important for us as a business to have a positive impact on the environment in which we work. At Spencer Ogden, we like to give our employees a chance to make a positive impact on people’s lives through charity work. However, we recognise that there can be barriers to volunteering, so we offer all our employees 4 paid volunteering days in addition to paid leave every year.
Recently Mehtap Zorer, Talent lead in Dusseldorf, took advantage of her paid volunteering days and volunteered her time with the Begegnungen 2005 charity. Hear about her time volunteering and the work she did below.
Who are Begegnungen 2005?
Begegnungen 2005 is an association for international youth exchange. They work closely with the Ministry of Family Affairs in Dusseldorf to draw attention to the social issues Germany currently face such as antisemitism and inequalities.
How did you get involved in this charity and why is it important to you?
I have been a board member for this association since 2015. I wanted to join this important cause as I feel a victim myself of such prejudices and I want to be a part of the change, where we can build a society in which acceptance and respect is the norm.
What were you doing during your time with Begegnungen 2005?
I was working on the project “To find a way” which focuses on areas in Germany that still support antisemitic ideologies.As a charity, we want to find a way to promote self-reflection and the refutation of these prejudice ideologies. To achieve this, we bring together 15 German students with 15 Israeli students every year and travel through the country of Israel and North Rhine-Westphalia.
This allows the students to experience these cultures first-hand and gives them the opportunity to gain an understanding of other perspectives and social characteristics. The goal is to change theirviewpoint and provide them with intercultural competence. It also educates them to understand the effect ignorance, hate and racism can lead to in an attempt remove this prejudice.
How many of your paid volunteering days did you use?
I used the full 4 days. Spencer Ogden is a big advocate of providing opportunities to their employees to give back to the community and it’s great to work for a company that actively supports your personal interest of where and who you want to volunteer with.
