If this strange period we’re living in taught us anything, it is the fact that the community spirit as a driving force behind positive change in society as a whole is of utmost importance. Split’s tech community already recognized this fact, so when we say that we encourage the community spirit and sharing of skills and knowledge, we don’t mean just between techies, we mean the community as a whole. That is why there are numerous initiatives by the members of Split’s tech community that are charitable, while still connected with technology as our original passion.

One of these humanitarian initiatives was the Split Tech Cup. It was organized by Split Tech City with the Sports Center Mačak and the Red Cross Split as partners. Held in 2018 and 2019, this humanitarian cage ball tournament gathered funds for buying laptops for children whose families don’t have the means to do so. The idea was to bring technology closer and create new opportunities for children and young people from families who don’t have the financial means to secure a laptop or other technological devices for their child.

While it might be difficult to imagine that someone doesn’t own a cell phone, laptop, or doesn’t have internet access in this day and age, numerous families cope with difficult existential conditions, in which technology is a luxury rather than a necessity. We decided to change this by providing these children with a laptop they can use as well as skills to use them.

This tournament is always a fun event that brings the tech community closer together with a common goal in mind. In both editions, the funds for numerous laptops for the children were secured and DUMP Association added an educational aspect to the whole venture by providing the children with workshops where they get an introduction to programming.

Split’s tech community is obviously no stranger to connecting football and humanitarian endeavors as is evident from another example that connects the two: Agilo’s initiative to gather funds by scoring goals during the soccer league of Sun City Sport in Split.

Agilo is a design and technology studio headed by Toni Trivković, who is also the founder of Split Tech City, and who had an idea of turning each goal the team scores into a donation for a humanitarian purpose. The value of one goal was initially 100 Croatian kuna, but soon the good vibe spread into the community, and others, companies and individuals alike, recognized this as something positive and note-worthy, so right now the goal’s value skyrocketed and is around 800 HRK.

You can follow the Agilo Sports team via their website and Instagram profile. The season is not yet over, so they are still gathering funds with every goal scored. At the end of the season, the team will choose for what purpose they will donate the total collected amount.

Another positive example was the recently held exhibition of NFT tokens in the real world. It took place in Split and was one of the first of its kind in the world. The exhibition was organized by the curatorial collective “New FacTory”, the StoneBlock Association, and Bitcoin Store, and featured works by Dalibor Barić, Prime Render Publishing, Insipiens, Ivan Perić, and the association “Down 21”.

In addition to bringing blockchain technology closer to the general population, this exhibition also had a charitable dimension through a public auction of an NFT token called “Happiness”. The token represents an artistic vision of happiness through hand-painted fractal shapes and was created by Stella, one of Split’s artists. A total of $3,000 has been raised via the auction and other donations, and the entire amount was donated to the Down Syndrome Association which will use the funds for all their activities, including therapies, workshops, and events.

We hope these examples inspire you to undertake similar initiatives of your own. There is no greater reward than helping someone else because it is the only action with nothing lost and twice as many gains!