Vajda-Papír, Hungary's leading manufacturer of hygiene paper products, donated almost three thousand hygiene paper products covering a year's supply for people in elderly care to the Hungarian Charity Service of the Order of Malta. The charitable organisation provides care for around 2,700 elderly people every day in 27 residential and 7 day-care institutions, as well as home help and signalling home care across the country. The donation, with a value of more than 30 million forints and weighing 10 tons, was received by Father Imre Kozma, founding president of the Hungarian Charity Service of the Order of Malta, and the residents of the old people's home in the House of Caring in Fő Street on 15 November at the charity's headquarters.

Attila Vajda, founder and managing director of Vajda-Papír, said at the donation ceremony that Vajda-Papír has always given priority to social responsibility, especially to supporting people in need. Helping vulnerable groups in society is a priority at all times, and by strengthening corporate social responsibility, companies can take a significant pressure off the social networks that serve those in need. He described the adequate care of the elderly and the disadvantaged as a particularly noble goal, which also contributes to preserving human dignity. He pointed out that many of those who are taken into care have no relatives or supportive family and often require specialised health care. This places a considerable financial burden on the care networks, and this is something that Vajda-Papier would like to help with every year, as is now a tradition, he said, that the products donated - toilet paper, tissues and household paper towels - will be used for a year to supply the entire network of the Hungarian Maltese Charity Service for the care of the elderly.

The CEO recalled that their cooperation with the Hungarian Maltese Charity Service started in 2020. In a charity campaign entitled "You are all heroes!", the Group supplied the charity's social and healthcare care network with hygiene paper products. The company supplied 6,000 disadvantaged children in spring 2021 and hundreds of disadvantaged families in autumn 2021 with a year's supply of hygiene paper products. And last year, 3,000 disabled people donated a year's worth of tissue paper products to the Hungarian Maltese Relief Service. As in previous years, this year's charity campaign was made possible through the cooperation of Ooops! customers and partners.

Father Imre Kozma, founding president of the Hungarian Maltese Charity Service, emphasized that charitable acts make Christianity alive and attractive. "Patriotism in action means that we are responsible for each other, for the wider and narrower community. We need this so much in our daily lives. Such a person forgets self-interest, because he knows that the greatest value is not the good of the individual, but the service of the community. Those who come to this point are Christ-followers, whether they realize it or not. Man cannot live alone and for himself, because he is a social being," he said. "We live in communities, in a family, in the workplace, in a village or town, in the community of a nation," he stressed. The head of the charity also spoke of how its workers create a home in their hearts for "those entrusted to them by God". "We are all responsible for the future journey of those who live here," said Father Imre Kozma. "We always have a place for the elderly, the sick, the self-sufficient," he added. He also spoke of the huge role civil society organisations can play in restoring people's values, which are often disrupted these days, and stressed that a society's values are defined by the way it cares for its children, its elderly and its poor. "The Hungarian Maltese Charity Service is working with all the means at its disposal to improve this social value system. We want to show the world that the effective giving of love is the only right way to help those in need," said Father Imre Kozma.

He also said that the Hungarian Maltese Charity Service provides care for around 2,700 elderly people a day in 27 residential and 7 day care institutions, as well as home help with signalling home care and with the help of volunteers. Since its inception, it has been providing dedicated care to older people throughout the country. The Charity Service believes that society cannot continue to be built without the knowledge and respect of our ancestors. That is why the Maltese organisation cares for the elderly in such a way that they can preserve their dignity and pass on their life experience to younger people under all circumstances," he stressed.

Father Kozma said that the Hungarian Maltese Charity Service aims to help elderly people to stay in their own environment as long as possible. For this purpose, in Hungary it was the first to introduce home care, signalling home help and to start a caretaker service visiting people living in isolated farms. Under the home care scheme, Maltese professionals support elderly people with everyday tasks. And for relatives, the charity's own webnover.hu website, developed in-house, provides help with home care. Elderly people who want to be in touch with their community can spend their time actively and valuably in Maltese senior citizens' clubs and day care centres, while volunteer groups support elderly people living alone with donations, visit lonely elderly people in hospitals and organise meaningful spiritual programmes for the elderly - Bible studies, pilgrimages, etc., he added.

The charitable service cares for elderly people in 27 residential institutions across the country when they have to leave their homes. In most cases, residents are able to take their own furniture and memorabilia with them, and the activities and programmes form a community. The chapel, Bible and faith classes, and shared reflections are available to older people practising their faith. In Hungary, more than half of the residents of residential institutions suffer from dementia, so the Maltese Charity Service is committed to providing daily care and programmes to slow down or even improve the course of the disease. It carries out research, develops tools and introduces new therapeutic methods to identify early warning signs, understand how to prevent the disease and, once it has developed, how to slow down its progression. Maltese institutions use the latest tools and methods to make life easier for people with dementia.

The House of Caring in Budapest Fő Street provides care and assistance to 67 elderly people. The residential care home is mainly for elderly people who are ill, unable to care for themselves but do not need hospital care. A permanent nurse, a general practitioner, a psychologist and a psychiatrist provide care and nursing services. Regular creative activities, music therapy and mental health care are part of the daily routine to help maintain skills and abilities. The facility also cares for people with dementia. The staff at the House of Caring strive to ensure that all residents can maintain their dignity and find peace of mind in the final stages of their lives.

The Vajda-Papír Group

Vajda-Papír was established 24 years ago as a family business, employing around 700 people across the group. The group entered the Norwegian market in 2013 and has been successfully operating a factory there for 10 years, employing more than 110 people. As Hungary's market leader and largest manufacturer of tissue paper products with the largest output in 2023, the company expects a significant increase in 2022 sales in both domestic and export markets. The company's Ooops! branded and private label hygiene paper products - toilet paper, handkerchiefs, paper towels, napkins - are supplied to Scandinavia, the Baltic States, Central and Eastern Europe and more than 30 countries worldwide.