Awesomeness Fest Hosts ''Give Back Day''

Awesomeness Fest, Mindvalley's transformational event, decided on Dubrovnik as the host city of its inaugural European event which took place from the 16th to the 19th of May. As part of the event, Awesomeness Fest partnered with the Dubrovnik Volunteer Center to host a unique opportunity to ''Spread the Awesomeness'' in Dubrovnik on May 20. The event hosted ''Give Back Day,'' a chance for its attendees from nearly 40 different countries to immerse in and give back to the local community through a volunteer project. “We have exactly 41 nations involved in this event, this is the first time that we have held in Europe,” commented one of the main organisers Ben Croft from England. Give Back Day is designed by one of Awesomness Fest's volunteers Rebekkah Uccellini who creates volunteerism and community projects for organizations ranging from Microsoft to Burning Man. This year, the Awesomeness Fest team chose Dubrovnik Volunteer Center as its local partner in creating a variety of interesting volunteer projects.Community minded actions “We have painted a painted a local playground to give it more life and energy, we then will go to a local shelter for homeless people and install a table tennis table, before heading off to plant a giving tree in Mlini. Attached to this “giving tree” are wishes that we have collected from people in Dubrovnik, people who have terminal illnesses or are generally in need of help. After these wishes are attached people in our group will be able to read them and hopefully grant some of the wishes,” added Croft. The project in Dubrovnik centred around three initiatives. Painting the walls, beautifying the underpass, planting olive trees, putting in new nets for football goals and playing with the kids in the playground in Mokošica. Creation of a ''community'' or ''living'' room within the Vis2 homeless shelter where users can gather for social and recreational activities. And finally a ''Giving Tree'' which will collect short and long terms needs from the community including mentorship, sponsorship and coaching needs; medical, education and schooling needs; and short term needs such as attending a class, planting a garden, shopping for the elderly, etc. In turn, the ''Giving Tree'' was shared with event attendees who helped support the activity or needs that align with their skill set. All the events were organized in cooperation with local NGO's, including the Croatia Red Cross branch organization of Dubrovnik-Neretva county, Eko Omblići association from Mokošica and the City of Dubrovnik.