On Sunday, 30th September, the Belgrade Half Marathon took place under the slogan Race for Good. This was also an occasion to raise funds for Petnica Research Center as part of the National Giving Day (Nacionalni dan davanja).

Although it was a bit colder outside than is usual this time of year, a bright, sunny day, as well as one great opportunity to give motivated about 3,000 people to attend the event which took place in Belgrade for the 2nd time.

Apart from being a way of highlighting the importance of a healthy lifestyle, the race was also an opportunity for people to support the work of Petnica Research Center as part of National Giving Day, an initiative launched this year by the Serbian Philanthropy Forum (Srpski filantropski forum). By purchasing a special package at the price of about EUR 42 (RSD 5,000) citizens could take part in the race, but also support National Giving Day.

Catalyst Balkans team was present at the event together with our partners form the Coalition for Giving (Koalicija za dobročinstvo), the members of which include Serbian Philanthropy Forum, Ana and Vlade Divac Foundation, Trag Foundation, SMart Collective, Forum for Responsible Business, with the support of the Serbian Chamber of Commerce. We took pictures and talked to our fellow citizens about National Giving Day, while Mayor of Belgrade Zoran Radojičić, director of Petnica Vigor Majić, athlete Olivera Jevtić and musician Dragoljub Đuričić also showed their support.

The race is over but the real challenge is still ahead. National Giving Day campaign is currently active on Donacije.rs, with 22 days left to raise the remaining EUR 33,726 (RSD 3,991,818), which are needed to purchase a spectrometer, a unique device which would greatly enrich the programs at Petnica and inspire the work of young innovators.