When YES alumni in and around Tuzla, Bosnia and Herzegovina, heard about Amira Osmanovic, a young mother in urgent need of a kidney transplant, they decided to take action with a fundraising event called “Spread the Love”.

Alumni recruited friends and classmates to help them bake chocolate chip cookies and muffins.  They then packaged the treats in cellophane wrapping, tied them with ribbon and, for a special touch, added a slip of paper with a quote on friendship written in English.

On October 25th, alumni and other volunteers gathered in Ismet Mujezinovic High School in Tuzla to sell these cookie packages—63 in all—at 1.00 KM or $0.75 per package.  Between cookie sales and additional donations, the group raised $67 for Osmanovic.

Pleased with the success of the first “Spread the Love” event, the alumni decided to organize a second event, this time raising money to buy warm winter socks for children at the Center for Children with Special Needs in Tuzla. The event was organized on November 10th during Ismet Mujezinovic High School’s Poetry Evening. “Some of the most famous poets in Bosnia and Herzegovina attended this event and participated in the humanitarian action,” alumni coordinator Selma Lacic explained.  $77 dollars were raised by the end of the night.

Alumna Selma Lacic, pictured, encourages others to find ways to contribute to their communities in positive ways, saying, “every day we should try to help others who are in need.”  The alumni hope to continue organizing “Spread the Love” fundraisers throughout the year.