On May 24, an opening ceremony of the first Park of Friendship of this year was held in the branch of the Primary School Bogosav Janković in Mokra Gora village within Parks of Friendship 2010 promotional activities of Naša Srbija.

The patron of the action Tatjana Tadić, the director of Naša Srbija Sanja Pajević Bundalo, the Mayor of Užice Jovan Marković and Christos Tsemberas, the president of the Board of Grand Casino Beograd, one of the biggest donors of this action, were present at the opening ceremony. Within the company’s social responsibility practice, Grand Casino Beograd donated a million dinars to Naša Srbija thanks to which ten parks with playgrounds in this year’s action were equipped.

Tatjana Tadić and Christos Tsemberas also handed over gift packages from Grand Casino to children, and the children prepared, in turn, a short program for them. The school in Mokra Gora has 51 students (9 pre-school and 42 primary school students). The action Parks of Friendship continues during the month of May, when parks with playgrounds in 30 more schools and their branches all over Serbia should be opened. The action includes schools and its branches in underdeveloped parts. They are usually schools with only a few students in villages of the following municipalities: Ivanjica, Bajina Bašta, Arilje, Užice, Požega, Loznica, Mali Zvornik, Kosjerić and Čajetina.

The action Parks of Friendship is a result and a sequel of the charity campaign Send a Friendship Card, which was initiated jointly by Naša Srbija and Banca Intesa in 2009 under the patronage of Tatjana Tadić. In this campaign, the best drawings made by children from primary schools all over Serbia were chosen in the Greeting Card Design Contest of Naša Srbija and Banca Intesa as official Naša Srbija holiday greeting cards. The funds raised from the sale of these cards went to improving living conditions of children in underdeveloped parts of Serbia.

Within the action Parks of Friendship parks equipped with swings, seesaws, climbing frames and benches are made in village schools and their branches. Thanks to that the children get the opportunity to spend their school brakes and free time in arranged spaces like the ones city children their age have.

Besides Grand Casino Beograd, among other big donors of the action Parks of Friendship are: Jubmes Bank, Telekom Srbija, the Executive Council of Vojvodina, NIS, the Ministry of Ecology and Spatial Planning, ComTrade Group, municipality of Palilula and municipality of Stari Grad.

The equipment for the playground area was made by students of technical schools in Bajina Bašta.

This is the fourth action in a row and so far 180 village school and their branches all over Serbia have been provided with parks with playgrounds. Ten of these parks are located in Kosovo and Metohia.