Romanian employees doubled the area of the JYSK Forest in Șotânga

In November, 20 employees from JYSK Romania joined the 1200 volunteers of Plantăm fapte bune în România Initiative and doubled the area of the JYSK Forest in Șotânga, Dâmbovița.

The volunteers came to Șotânga together with their colleagues, children, partners and friends. The weather was unexpectedly warm for mid-November, so the volunteers could enjoy a sunny and pleasant day, even if they put a lot of effort into planting as many saplings as possible. Due to the draught that affected the area for the past three months, the soil was very dry and this made the work even harder than last year, when we planted the first hectares of the JYSK Forest.

GOOD DEEDS AND GOOD PEOPLE

 “I was a volunteer last year and I loved it. This year I wanted to join the volunteers together with my children, because I want them to learn that it is important to be involved as volunteers and to do good deeds for the community they live in. The children had a lot of fun while planting! They even made a contest so - who plants the highest number of trees”,  says Iraida Paiuc, Marketing Manager JYSK România.

Alex is 11 years old and he is happy because he planted 50 saplings. While the men and the experienced volunteers digged the holes, the girls and the children held the saplings, covered them with soil, they paved the ground and poured water on it, so that the trees would survive. The water was carried in big buckets from the small river that passes just at the edge of the plot where we plant.

Despite all the hard work, everyone smiled and all the volunteers wanted to do a good job. They were happy to see that a big area of land that was previously empty and unused will be covered with saplings and, in a few years, with a big forest. This thought charged them with energy.

WHAT WAS THE MOTIVATION FOR THE VOLUNTEERS

“For a long time I wanted to participate at a tree planting and do a good deed. I enjoyed the way the organizers prepared the event and the fact that our colleagues were friendly and nice. I will participate again when I get the chance”,  said Florentina Sofian, Accountant for JYSK Romania. Next time, she plans to come together with her husband.

Other JYSK employees  participated at the tree planting so that they could join their colleagues. “I wanted to do a nice activity together with the colleagues from the office. It was a good way to relax and to  charge myself with a lot of positive energy, because I worked among so many volunteers that joined forces to give life to a beautiful idea“, says Leonid Tică, Regional Customer Service Manager JYSK Nordic.

For Alex Andrei, Store Manager JYSK Brăila, planting trees is what he always loves to do at home. I am always eager to go home to my parents so that I can do some work in the garden. I was there last week and I planted many shrubs – roses and black currant. I was happy that I could join my colleagues in Șotânga, where we had a nice weather so we could work without having any jackets”, said Alex.

Raluca Gherghe, District Manager, convinced 10 other colleagues to come as volunteers together with their families: “We loved it so much! One of my colleagues brought her little girl with her and she kept asking for a small shovel, because the spades we used were to big for her and she wanted to dig holes too”, remembers Raluca.

The JYSK Forest started in 2017, when we planted the first 20.000 saplings of white poplar, together with our CSR partner, Plant[m fapte bune în România. JYSK Romania will continue the tradition of planting more hectares in the JYSK Forest in the next years.