An inclusive holiday for teenagers with disabilities Coca-Cola "Christmas Caravan” was held at GSOM SPbU. The School became a partner of the event, providing a platform for the event. A team of 35 volunteers, including Coca-Cola employees and GSOM SPbU students, offered the children interesting tasks, united by a big goal—to tell how important it is to share attention and care with others.  

 

 

The Coca-Cola "Christmas Caravan" in Russia brought together 158 children from social institutions: the Aist Center for Social Assistance to Family and Children of the Pushkin District, and Wards of the Special Olympics. The partner of the holiday was the Mint Charitable Public Organization.

 

The main driving force of the “Christmas Caravan” has traditionally been Coca-Cola volunteer employees in Russia, who has experience in holding inclusive holidays, and have additionally undergone special training in order to communicate with adolescents with special needs.

 

"Elizaveta Troyanova, Director of the GSOM Career Center: “For the second year in a row, Coca-Cola HBC Russia has been carrying out a "Christmas Caravan" on the campus of the Graduate School of Management, and our students from GSOM Charity help in organizing it. At GSOM SPbU, we pay special attention to issues of social responsibility of business and believe that such events are an integral part of the activities of such a successful and sustainable corporation. We are very grateful to our long-time partner Coca-Cola, for the trust and the opportunity to host such a significant event within the walls of the School!”

 

Svetlana Nesterenko, Coca-Cola HBC Russia Regional External Relations and Communications Manager, noted that the main feature of the format is that the children become co-authors of the celebration and learn to develop social skills through communication with their peers, volunteers, and mentors.

 

"Christmas Caravan" was first held in Russia in 2000. Last year, the project changed its format to inclusive and now helps adolescents with special needs to overcome social exclusion. This year "Christmas Caravan" come to Moscow, St. Petersburg, Nizhny Novgorod, Shchelkovo, Samara, Rostov-on-Don, Krasnoyarsk, Novosibirsk, Vladivostok and Yekaterinburg.