Feeling good by doing good 

In 2019, I, May-Britt Aarts, came in contact with Together for Eindhoven through CTOUCH. At CTOUCH, I am currently working for three years as a Content Marketer. Besides my passion for writing, I also get immense joy from lending a helping hand to those who could use it. You probably know that satisfied feeling? So I get that feeling from combined passions like writing and doing good. When we decided in 2019 to shape the CSR policy together with CTOUCH and we joined forces with Samen voor Eindhoven for this, I was eager to do my part. Many wonderful and educational activities followed and to this day it feels so good for me to have found a balance in business and volunteering. And even better; you put a smile on the faces of those you help.

Making Sustainable Development Goals your own

That I wanted to mean something in Sustainable Development Goals began for me back in 2012 during my internship at the United Nations in Brussels. The Sustainable Development Goals were already beginning to take shape there too. On behalf of the Benelux department, we organized various projects for, for example, the Brussels EU community, our own Ministry of Foreign Affairs and various embassies. Goals such as "gender equality", "clean water and sanitation", "preservation of aquatic life", "reducing inequality and injustice" and, as Christmas on the cake, "combating climate change" were thus gaining momentum. Just creating awareness among political leaders and young people by exchanging each other's knowledge and experiences on these topics broadens everyone's horizons. But then we are not there yet. The 17 Sustainable Development Goals are not on the agenda to be addressed for nothing. So in order to put my money where my mouth is, I continue to take action for the various goals with great pleasure and passion. And now I get to do that together with many other top people for Together for Eindhoven.

In action as a volunteer

In addition to my work as a Content Marketer at CTOUCH, at one point I made a conscious decision to volunteer as well. You experience two completely different worlds which inspires you again. It's not wrong to get a reality check that way, because you discover even more which values you really care about. Both in work and private life.

As an animal lover, I have been working at Dierenambulance & Dierenasiel Helmond for a while now. Working with the team to rehabilitate these animals and give them a nice home gives such a satisfied feeling! Especially when you see the pictures of the happy adopters afterwards. In addition, I certainly did not want to sit still during corona. So in December 2020 I went on a walk for 3FM Serious Request. Together with other spontaneous "followers," we then spent a week raising money to relieve emergency workers both nationally and internationally. Not only my sponsors, but also the spontaneous 'followers' gave such a boost and sense of togetherness!

Also at Samen voor Eindhoven, they know only too well how to maintain a sense of togetherness during a difficult time like this. Even with improvised and coronaproof volunteer activities. Therefore, I was definitely up for creating a Feel Good news weekly for the residents of various assisted living facilities. Glad I could climb into my writer's pen and provide these people with all kinds of fun news about the ups and downs of Eindhoven. Even the Eindhoven dialect was tested briefly in this weekly. So, do you like writing and would you like to provide care institutions with some reading pleasure? Then simply sign up for this activity. I am itching to make some more editions.

 

Of course I hope that with Samen voor Eindhoven we will soon be able to exchange the coronaproof activities for outings outside the door. I still regularly think back to the trip to the Discovery Factory together with Mr. Rick and the kids. We had such a fun afternoon with the CTOUCH team! Together we fabricated all kinds of crafts and the end result was then proudly confirmed with a big fat high five!

Another thing that will stay with me is cooking with refugees. They are all intriguing people with the most incredible stories. Some are still so young and have already had to live in such miserable conditions that we find it hard to imagine. But they were also at least as interested in our activities. They don't say for nothing; cooking together connects. And it did!

Although I certainly had as much fun during a game of chess at Vitalis Care Center. CTOUCH provided the prizes and the residents provided some fanaticism and the necessary (game) joy. Some people may have needed a little extra guidance while playing cards, but everyone was in his/her cozy seat.
Let's especially hope that we can organize some outings for all these people again after corona! In any case, I will enjoy writing about them again. After all, these are experiences to remember. So, stay tuned!