COCA-COLA HBC CROATIA MAKES A DONATION TO SUPPORT SCIENTIFIC EXCELLENCE OF THE SESTRE MILOSRDNICE UNIVERSITY HOSPITAL CENTRE TISSUE AND CELL BANK

Coca-Cola HBC Croatia has donated almost HRK 150,000 to the Department of Transfusion and Regenerative Medicine of the Sestre Milosrdnice University Hospital Centre. The donated funds will be used to purchase a tissue freezer, which will facilitate the work of medical professionals at the hospital clinical unit Tissue and Cell Bank.

The freezer to be purchased with the donated funds can lower the temperature to -86°C, and it will be used to store the tissue intended for clinical purposes across Croatia. The donation is a contribution to the project the Bank is planning to initiate in order to modernise and equip its facilities, as well as expand its activities to include four new therapies, including stem-cell therapy. This donation will also help increase the safety, quality and effectiveness of therapy in general, and it will also contribute to achieving scientific excellence with the aim of recruiting young scientists.

“The patients expect from our Department to be a constant source of new insights and advanced types of treatment, and we have top-notch professionals who are qualified to meet these expectations. However, we cannot ensure full delivery of our potential to contribute and introduce new tissue- and cell-based therapies because we are pretty limited in terms of both equipment and space, which were, to make things harder, also damaged in the recent earthquake. We are therefore extremely grateful to Coca-Cola HBC Croatia for recognising our needs and supporting our work,” said Mario Zovak, Director of the Sestre milosrdnice University Hospital Centre.

“The employees of this clinical unit are a true example of how great value for one’s environment can be achieved through excellence, and it is precisely such stories that drive our society forward. With this donation, Coca-Cola HBC Croatia wishes to support their activities, and thank them for the excellent work they are doing. We hope that this gesture will provide a small impetus towards future scientific insights that will contribute immeasurably to the wellbeing of patients and the entire community,” said Ruža Tomić Fontana, General Manager of Coca-Cola HBC for Croatia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, and Slovenia.

During more than five decades of its presence in Croatia, Coca-Cola has continuously supported the local community by making donations and encouraging its development through numerous projects and programs. Only last year, Coca-Cola in Croatia and The Coca-Cola Foundation, Coca-Cola’s philanthropic arm, donated more than HRK 2.7 million to the Croatian Red Cross to support the relief efforts in the light of the COVID-19 pandemic, help the citizens of Zagreb who were affected by the earthquake, and ensuring accommodation for families from Petrinja who have lost their homes in a devastating earthquake. Furthermore, as part of its efforts aimed at helping its partners in the hospitality industry, Coca-Cola in Croatia provided support to bartenders working for minimum wages under its Raise the Bar project. Finally, to address the growing needs of the most vulnerable groups of citizens, Coca-Cola HBC Croatia donated HRK 100,000 to support the work of four soup kitchens, namely those in Osijek, Rijeka, Zagreb, and Split. And, besides financial assistance, it donated more than 15,000 litres of water and beverages to the Red Cross, members of the medical staff, firefighters, and vulnerable groups of citizens.