The American Chamber of Commerce in Macedonia – AmCham, a business community of 130 of the largest companies in the country, organized a fundraising event entitled Social Stock, where three socially beneficial projects were presented, which companies-members of the Chamber had the opportunity to support. The projects targeted several target groups: persons with disabilities who will receive training and an opportunity to work in the catering sector; socially endangered persons from Prespa who will learn how to grow organic products and engage in social entrepreneurship and children and young people who will have the opportunity to get to know and love nature through scout activities.

As part of the efforts to promote corporate social responsibility and make it easier for companies to invest in communities in which they live and work, AmCham announced a call for socially useful ideas to which 39 NGOs applied. Volunteers from the AmCham Social Responsibility Committee, at the same time employed by member companies, conducted a thorough analysis of the proposed projects and verification of organizations and selected the three best and most effective socially beneficial initiatives. The projects were presented to companies that had the opportunity to decide and to declare which are the projects they will support.

“Our members have shown that they are conscious, conscientious and responsible, and are willing to invest in creating opportunities for everyone. We are privileged to be a Chamber in which members of companies are leaders in corporate giving and who well understand their role in society. I am also pleased that members will have the opportunity to co-operate with each other in the support of projects. I hope we will inspire more such initiatives that will enable the private sector to invest in solving social problems”, said Dijana Despodov, Executive Director of the American Chamber of Commerce in Macedonia.

The event successfully achieved the goal by gathering 1.500.000 denars and products and services needed for realization of these socially beneficial projects, while at the same time raising awareness of the social responsibility of the companies and contributing to the formation of partnerships between the private and the civil sector.

“Positive business results are not enough for a company to be called successful. Genuinely successful companies are those who go further, setting higher standards of responsible work, offering help to those who need it the most and contributing to the prosperity of the entire community. Pivara Skopje is determined to be such a company that builds strong and positive relationships with the community and invests time and resources in support of a wide range of social areas and initiatives such as this of the American Chamber of Commerce, in which we are pleased to join,” said Dan Timotin, General Manager of Pivara Skopje.

AmCham is a socially responsible chamber that unites companies that practice the culture of corporate giving. In the last 10 years, AmCham, together with the members of the Chamber continuously advocates the integration of socially responsible practices in the daily business operations of companies and the realization of socially responsible projects.