Back in ’89, Bosnyák was involved with the graphic design of the first chamber publication (AmCham Today). “That was where I first read about charity work,” she remembers. In 1994 she joined the office staff full time, and is now responsible for financial matters and charity work. “I discovered I wanted to do this, because I like to help people; I am more happy if I can help someone than if I am given something.”

She quickly realized that the idea of volunteerism was something Americans were brought up with. “The first charity event was in the very same year AmCham was founded, 1989. The wives of businessmen cooked American dishes and visited a children’s hospital, where they fed the children and gave them small presents.” Something has been done every year since, with the running total now standing at more than 60 “charity actions”. In that time, more than 60 institutions have been supported, and some HUF 270 million raised. Hungarian children are always the beneficiaries, with one exception; in the aftermath of the terrible 2004 Boxing Day Tsunami in the Indian Ocean, the decision was taken to help Sri Lankan kids.

AmCham has, of course, long been a champion of transparency in all fields, and charity is no exception. In 2001, the AmCham Foundation (ACF) was formed to help children in need of social, mental or physical support, to provide transparent and ethical charity services for donor corporations, and to promote CSR and the ethos of volunteerism in the Hungarian business culture. It is independent, though has strong links with the chamber. Nothing makes that more clear, nor the chamber’s commitment more obvious, than the fact that Bosnyák’s chamber job description includes her duties as secretary of the ACF.

The first volunteer day was organized in conjunction with Habitat for Humanity at their building project in Vác back in 1996. Since then, projects have been supported all over the country. The experience in Marcibányi tér (MÁK), clearing up the garden of a home for disabled children, was particularly moving. “The children worked with us very enthusiastically, and I could see it was very important to the volunteers too to be working with the children.”

Now billed as “A day to make it happen,” the next major event on June 18 will see volunteers heading for Devecser, one of the towns devastated by the toxic red sludge spill last year, to work on rehabilitating the infrastructure of the 220-student Gárdonyi Géza Elementary School.

But if that is too far to travel, there will also be opportunities to help out in Budapest. “We have sent out questionnaires to children’s homes in the city asking if they are prepared to take volunteer workers on the day, and so far have had 10 applications. So people who can’t go to Devecser but want to help can choose from the list, either as individuals or companies.”

This article was originally printed in the June issue of AmCham’s membership magazine Voice under the title “Preaching the volunteer gospel.”