Restoration of a rundown castle, Christmas dinner for women in crisis, a charity tattoo service. That is but a mere quarter of the twelve tales of goodness that made it to the finals of the 2019 Via Bona Awards.

Via Foundation is now inviting everyone to vote for the finalists they find most inspiring to help determine which will become this year’s award winners. You too can cast your vote until the end of April at www.cenaviabona.cz. (Please note: the voting site is in Czech only).

The Via Bona Awards – which recognize people and organizations who are giving back to their communities in inspiring ways – have been presented by Via Foundation for the past 22 years. The awards highlight stories of giving and publicly thank people who selflessly give their time, energy, money or experience for good causes. This year’s theme is vibrant communities. “We want to help develop an engaged citizenry, where people take an active interest in local affairs and trust one another. This year we sought out people who are doing good in the places they care about, whether that means their immediate neighborhoods, regions or the Czech Republic as a whole – all in the spirit of vibrant communities,” says Zdeněk Mihalco, program director at Via Foundation.

Nominations were sent in by members of the public. Via Foundation’s independent selection jury then chose a total of 12 finalists out of the pool of nominations. There are three in each of the following four categories: Personal Engagement, Young Personal Engagement (under 26), Fundraising Drive and Good Company. Public voting will determine the award winner in each category. Via Foundation will also select one nominee as the Vibrant Community Honorable Mention award winner.

The award ceremony will take place on May 22, 2019 in Prague during Via Foundation’s “Neighborly Week”.

So who are the 2019 Via Bona finalists?

Personal Engagement: Eva Lehotská, Bedřich Loos, Martina Seidlerová

Young Personal Engagement: Patrik Zadina, Warriors from Avalon, Martin Kasík

Fundraising Drive: Soup for a good cause, Circle tattoos, Ondřej Šimetka

Good Company: Vincentka mineral water, Vojanovy sady park, Bonami home decor 

The main partners of the 2019 Via Bona Awards are Kooperativa Insurance Company corporate foundation, PwC Česká republika and Tchibo. The Award patrons are Hana and Dalimil Dvořák and Věra Výtvarová. The main media partners are Czech Television, Czech Radio and the web server Aktuálně.cz. The Via Bona Awards are held each year under the auspices of the US Embassy in the Czech Republic.

For more information, please contact Monika Skopalová, monika.skopalova@nadacevia.cz, Tel: +420 734 257 140.