The Alkemist Foundation

We are a socially responsible company interested in helping people. We have set aside some of our goodwill, time and money to touch the hearts of those in need.

We would like to prove that, even if our means are limited, if there is some goodwill, we can help members of our communities. We want such help to go to children, those who have fallen victim to some sort of abuse or unfortunate events, and exceptional individuals with incredible talents who simply need a bit of an extra push.

Many challenges, incredible stories and individuals, as well as many new chapters, still await us and we would be glad to open them with you.

KATARINA TOMŠIČ

The driving force behind our Alkemist Foundation, which helps at-risk children, socially disadvantaged children and families, as well as exceptional individuals, is Katarina Tomšič, a renowned expert in the fields of social parenthood (adoption and foster care) and child advocacy. She is committed to charitable, legal and journalistic work at the Foundation through dedication and empathy, which she draws from her own life experience, as she was adopted herself. In her work, she collaborates with institutions and public figures from the entire Adriatic region, and has also participated in numerous interviews with the goal of destigmatising adoption and foster care.

THE CAMPAIGNS WE HAVE ORGANIZED SO FAR:

2018

Kenya, 2018

With the help of our donors, in February 2018, we brought lots of joy to Kenya, as well as some tangible improvement. This year, the diverse team gathered around the Association for a Better World included 11 different members, the largest number so far. In the course of just two weeks, we visited all ten primary schools involved in the sponsorship project for children at risk. Joining our forces, we managed to cover the cost of 81 annual tuition fees for the 2018 academic year. At the Ragak primary school, we installed the first water tank with appropriate plumbing for the entire school and we also renovated a classroom that was virtually falling apart. At the Uhanga primary school, we installed a fence surrounding the school property and a gate in order to ensure the safety of the school’s animals. Indeed, the school owns goats, sheep and chickens in order to improve its self-reliance and provide at least one meal a day for the most vulnerable children.

07/02

2014

Kenya, 2014

Alkemist proudly sponsors 20 primary school students in Kenya.

01/02

2012

Our First 1095 Steps

On Friday, 8 June, a charity concert was held at the Festival Hall in Ljubljana to mark the publication of the first scrapbook for adopted children, Our First 1095 Steps. The author Katarina Tomšič covered some important questions that both adopted children and their adoptive parents encounter as the children grow up. The Alkemist Foundation was happy to take part in the project, provide financial support and help prepare the translation.

08/06

Svatopluk Božak in the RAAM

Exceptional success in sports can only be achieved by an exceptional human being. The ultra-cyclist Svatopluk Božak believed in himself despite an unenviable financial situation and many trying life experiences. As a mechanical engineer, struggling to survive month after month with his family, he persisted in his athletic path, guided by a single goal: to finish the most demanding cycling race in the world, the Race Across America. 10 days and 15 hours full of relentless pedalling helped him come in sixth. Through the Alkemist Foundation, we want to support exceptional individuals as much as we can, so we are particularly proud of Svat’a’s – that’s Svatopluk’s friends’ nickname for him – achievement. The Alkemist Foundation supported Svat’a’s American adventure.

01/07

ReLight and Their Debut Album Evermore

First came the music, and with it came the word, and with the word came the voice. Experience garnered in the dire straits of life provided the outline of the emotions that gradually, chord by chord, cascaded down into metaphors capturing all the ups and downs, finally coming together under the name ReLight in an effort to deliver musical perfection.

In March, Alkemist helped the band release its debut album Evermore (Alkemist, 2012) and the release was accompanied by a promo concert in the Old Power Station in Ljubljana. The album, which contains eleven original songs, was created in the Metelkova Studio with the producer Rok Podbevšek, while Aco Razbornik, from the prestigious Tivoli Studio, took care of the final sound editing. Evermore turns on the topic of an individual’s daily mental states and his or her reflections on the contemporary world, leaving room for a more intimate contemplation of the more sombre experiences stemming from artistic introspection.

01/03

2010

Joining Rožmarinke at the “Sponsor a Child” Charity Concert

On Sunday, 7 March, a charity concert was held at the Festival Hall in Ljubljana to mark the 15th anniversary of the band Rožmarinke’s first performance. The concert proceeds went to the children placed at the Malči Beličeve Youth Home. The event was supported by the Alkemist translation agency.

07/03

2009

Alkemist for the Ostržek Children

On an early winter morning, we surprised the children who attend the renovated Ostržek kindergarten in the Slovenian town of Novo Mesto. We brought 53 picture books and some didactic toys for the children attending the so-called Baby Chicks group in order to help them learn something new.

24/12

Corporate Gifting Funds Donated to Children at the Malči Beličeve Youth Home

The Alkemist translation agency decided to use funds designated for business partners’ and associates’ gifts to take some 50 wards of the Malči Beličeve Youth Home to the Atlantis water park, where they spent a lovely winter afternoon filled with swimming and laughter. After we spent some time enjoying various water activities, the children joined us at the Foundation’s anniversary party. They satisfied their sweet tooth with some delicious cake and their beaming smiles truly brought us joy.

16/12

Alkemist Supported a Children’s Extemporization Event

In order to mark International Museum Day, pupils from three Slovenian municipalities, Dobrepolje, Grosuplje and Ivančna Gorica, gathered on the lawn in front of the primary school in Dobrepolje, where they made living willow sculptures as a part of the traditional children’s extemporization event. In the course of this sunny afternoon, a sculpture made of willow branches, which the children themselves stripped clean of leaves, gradually emerged. The sculpture was integrated into the horizontal construction of an eco-house. In the future, when the house turns green, it will provide shade for the children of Dobrepolje. These children’s and pupils’ enthusiasm could lead to the construction of similar sculptures in other locations, which is something Alkemist’s employees, who support such youth projects, truly hope to witness in the future.

14/05

2008

Washing Machines in Železniki

The Alkemist Foundation was established when we ran the first charity campaign in the Slovenian town of Železniki with our partners, BSH Hišni aparati, in order to provide washing machines for five families that had suffered a natural disaster.

15/01