Over the past weekend we received a great example of the power of a good deed done by a stranger.
Yordan Stefanov lives in London and works at Baringa, an international management consulting firm. He got in touch with us a year ago wanting to help Single Step, as it was a personal cause for him - one that he truly believes in. Since then Yordan has been helping us in numerous ways: he organized a fundraising cocktail in London for the foundation, he has given us invaluable advice and helped Single Step become part of Baringa’s CSR program.
This is how another philanthropic initiative was born - Baringa’s participation in the Sofia Marathon 2018, that took place on 14 October 2018 and attracted 4,000 athletes from 48 countries. For us this was incredible - for the first time in our history, professionals from a multinational company faced the challenging 42 km to raise funds for the community center - one of our main priorities.
“I will do anything to support what we can do in providing young people with a safe place where they can feel loved and accepted regardless of who they are or who they’re going to become” says Shaiyla Bhana. She is originally from New Zealand, but has been calling London her home for the last five years. Shaiyla is a consultant at Baringa Partner's Telecommunications, Media and Technology practice and has supported the LGBT community and Single Step on a number of occasions.
In the week prior to the marathon a number of Baringa’s team recorded and sent us videos, talking about their motivation to stand up for our cause. Roxanne D’Souza - director of Baringa Partner’s Telecommunications, Media and Technology practice and her husband, Faris Aranki - director of their Energy & Utilities practice, as well as other colleagues of theirs also visited Bulgaria and took part in the competition. 11 people ran for our cause and covered a total of 200.4 km!
Thank you, Baringa Partners!