The mountain rescue service launched the fundraising campaign on August 8, 2024, to replace their completely worn-out off-road vehicle. The target was eight million forints, enough to purchase a relatively newer vehicle with good off-road capabilities. The Active Hungary Program, through the Active and Ecotourism Development Center Nonprofit Ltd., contributed 4 million forints toward our goal, leaving us with only half the amount to raise.
Of course, before making the public appeal, we spent months trying to acquire money or a vehicle from various sources. We sent letters to several major companies in Hungary, wrote to all Hungarian car dealerships with used off-road vehicles in stock, and contacted larger businesses in towns around Börzsöny, such as Vác, as well as all major hospitality and service providers in Börzsöny, where we assumed the size of the business might allow for financial support. Since all our efforts were unsuccessful, we turned to the Börzsöny hikers and the general public with an appeal.
In the past month, a total of 182 donors raised 4,266,000 HUF for the vehicle purchase, which averages 22,571 HUF per donor. Of course, not everyone could contribute the same amount: some gave 1,000 forints, while others donated up to 1,000,000 forints to our association.
We are incredibly grateful to everyone who contributed, regardless of the amount. The Börzsöny hikers form a fantastic community, having already made great efforts to support the mountain rescue service, and they went above and beyond once again! And thanks also go to the many others who, while not Börzsöny hikers, sympathize with our work. Thank you! The names of the supporters – although many requested anonymity – can be found on the campaign page.
We also thank the bloggers, Instagram and Facebook page owners, and group admins who immediately, often without our request, shared and promoted our fundraising campaign! Special thanks to Csilla, the mayor of Szokolya, who, as always, has stood by us with her full support.
We are grateful to those who, even if they couldn’t support us financially, helped by sharing our appeal on social media! And thank you to the journalists who reported on our fundraising efforts!
We are overjoyed and have already started selecting from the available vehicles. Our goal is to purchase the youngest, most capable off-road vehicle possible. We hope to introduce our new vehicle to you very soon!
