Nicosia-based charity ‘Cans For Kids’ marked the end of the project ‘Working for Environmental Community Action Now (WE CAN)’ with a reception on Friday May 5, to thank everybody who contributed to its success and in particular its funders the Active Citizens Fund in Cyprus, which is supported by Iceland, Lichtenstein and Norway through the EEA and funds from Norway 2014-2021.
Cans for Kids President Rosie Charalambous welcomed and thanked all the friends, supporters and volunteers of the Association for their support over the years. The Project Coordinator Valerie Mavratsas was not able to attend the event and her brief address was read by Aileen O’Donoghue.
She stressed the importance of recycling and of raising awareness about the protection of the environment while she referred to the purchase of medical equipment Cans for Kids donates to the paediatric wards of local hospitals.
Summing up the project activities, Mavratsas said eight new can banks were installed, bank management teams were trained in each location, schools visited the Cans For Kids recycling centre to get hands-on experience sorting and baling cans, two clean-up days were organised, in which dozens of young people took part, including the Peace Players, a bicommunal basketball NGO, and a seminar and a lecture were organised in cooperation with the University of Nicosia.
“Because on those days when you think that what you do may not be that significant, you can rest assured that put all together, every can does count. And the WE CAN project helped us to get more of you to say, ‘we actually can’ do better for a more sustainable Cyprus!” she concluded.
Nicosia Mayor Constantinos Giorkadjis congratulated all those involved in the project and their work of Cans for Kids, saying that their efforts increase awareness about the need to protect the environment.
Charalampos Theopemptou, president of the Green Party, said his participation in an event at the University of Nicosia in April was a great pleasure. He congratulated all contributors to the project, assured of his continuous support and referred to new legislation which will come into effect in June 2024 making recycling obligatory.
In his brief words at the reception, Achilleas Demetriades, a strong supporter of the Association, said “yes, we can, and yes we should and yes we will.” He pledged to continue helping Cans For Kids and encouraged everybody to do just that.
For 30 years, Cans For Kids has promoted can recycling. The charity runs a wide network of can banks across Cyprus and operates a can sorting/crushing facility. After metal is gathered from can banks, it is sorted and crushed by volunteers every Saturday morning. Funds raised are used to buy medical equipment for the paediatric wards of local hospitals. To date, equipment worth more than 350,000 euro has been donated.
For more information about Cans For Kids, you can visit www.cansforkids.org.
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