About us
MUNI HELPS is a volunteer centre of Masaryk University. We create our own volunteer programmes and connect students, staff and alumni with organizations and people who need help. In the times of crises, we are able to involve the general public and together respond to urgent needs.
How did it start?
The volunteer centre was founded in March 2020, when Rector Martin Bareš addressed the university community in response to the outbreak of COVID-19 and the need for help. Since then, we have been actively involved in the management of emergencies and crises, we have designed our own volunteer programmes, built the Good Grace ComMUNIty and taken care of our volunteers.
We mostly provide assistance to individuals and organizations in Brno and vicinity. When a crisis hits, such as floods, tornado or any other adverse situation, we don’t hesitate to go where needed.
Why is it important?
We believe that volunteering plays a vital role both in emergencies and in everyday life. Even small or short-term help can mean much more to someone in need than it may seem at first. Besides the effect of volunteering on the outside world, we also realize how positively it affects the volunteers themselves. The possibility to obtain valuable and unique experience is one of the reasons why we, at the centre, try to create an environment where is is easy and natural to give a helping hand. Volunteering has an important place at Masaryk University, which actively supports students’ initiative and, in doing so, contributes to the development of civil society.
What we do
Design our own volunteer programmes
We aim to create opportunities that allow volunteers to become involved throughout the year. During the semester, we provide group tutoring called Klubík, where we teach children attending lower secondary grades and prepare them for entrance exams to secondary school. At the end of August, we organize the Tutoring Summer School, a city camp for primary school students. Tutoring combined with games prepares them to go back to school. We also operate the Student Legal Advice Centre, which gives answers to questions of MUNI students and employees concerning law.
Connect volunteers with individuals and organizations
Our goal is to facilitate a connection between people who wish to help and those who currently seek help. Thanks to our app, we share requests for help and enable the volunteers to connect directly with those in need. In the same way, we share requests from organizations, clubs and initiatives that are looking for volunteers.
Help in crises
In the case of emergency or a crisis, we are ready to help where most necessary. We started our activities during the covid epidemic, continued by removing damage caused by the tornado in South Moravia and went on helping refugees after the Russian invasion of Ukraine. We were also active during floods in Brno a more importantly in the Jeseník region, where we worked together with the locals to cope with the aftermath of the natural disaster.
Build the Good Grace ComMUNIty and take care of volunteers
Relationships with our volunteers matter. We are building a strong community of people sharing the same values, meeting them regularly. Taking care of mental wellbeing of all participants is important to us. We are interested in the progress of the assistance, collect feedback and give recommendations on How to Take Care of Yourself.