“Cliniclowns Mix & More” is a two-week jamboree where people can come together around a quality cocktail – or mocktail (cocktail without alcohol) – in a bar of their choice. On a more serious note, it is also a chance to give to those who need it most: kids who are in hospital and who get some much needed relief from Cliniclowns. Cliniclowns Belgium has, in fact, been sending professional clowns to sick and/or disabled children to offer them some distraction and pleasure for more than 23 years now.

Cliniclowns Belgium is a non-profit organisation, doesn’t receive subsidies and is completely dependent on donations. Each participating bar is asked to transfer a euro per cocktail sold and the total amount will be officially donated to Cliniclowns. There are more than 25 participating bars, spread all over Belgium.

All participating bartenders are invited to create a « Cool Cliniclowns Cocktail » during the festival period. The most successful will be officially announced and get an award. The inspiration and founding father of CliniClowns was Michael Christensen. As a street artist and clown of the renowned Big Apple Circus, he experienced in the 1980s the importance of such pleasures are for children in difficult situations.

In 1986 he founded the Big Apple Clown Care Unit in New York. In Belgium, the story of the organisation first started in 1993 when Swa Vetters, still chairman of the VZW Cliniclowns Belgium, watched a documentary that he saw on the BRT.

The start-up was accompanied by some scepticism among the medical staff of the hospitals but, even so, a trial period of one year was launched. Even before the year had passed, the organisation received a message from the hospital’s chief pediatrician that they had been won over to the Cliniclowns concept.

The pediatricians said they noticed that the visits from the professional clowns were good for their young patients. The starting signal was given for a further expansion that soon went beyond the province of Antwerp. In the year 2001 the name of the Non-profit Organisation changed to Cliniclowns Belgium.

The Union of Belgium’s Bartenders Union of Belgium’s Bartenders” (UBB), meanwhile, is an association that started in 1961 through the enthusiasm and dynamic approach of the Belgian barmen who wanted to defend the values of the ‘Art of the Bar’ and the know-how where cocktails are concerned.

The UBB is the only Association of Bar Professionals in Belgium recognised by the International Bartenders Association (IBA). With a growing number of passionate members, it is in constant evolution where the respect for the rules and the international recipes fit in perfectly with the modern tendencies in the art of drinking.

The post Belgian bartenders to organize a two-week festival to show that a (non) alcoholic cocktail can be fun appeared first on Brussels Express.

Since the launch at the beginning of the year, the CLOTHESUP project of SB OverSeas has been picking up clothing donations from all around Brussels, as well as some Belgian towns, like Antwerp and Liege as well as villages.

We have already collected clothing from all 19 municipalities in Brussels. We’ve been lucky to be welcomed into your homes and that the Belgian community has continued to support us. We’ve begun to establish a bond of trust between the community and SB OverSeas, so much so that some have made donations several times.

While our lofty goal of sending 25 tons of donations to Lebanon was unfortunately not met by our deadline in April, we will still push to get to 25 in order to send the truck in a couple of months at the beginning of summer.

So we need your support!

Moving to a new city, or entering a new life stage?

Whether you’re moving to a new city or starting a new job, these changes will be reflected in your closet. It’s not practical to bring every single piece of clothing you own to your new home, so make use of this opportunity to declutter. Furthermore, if you’re moving from a colder to warmer climate, it’s the right time to donate those coats hanging in your closet.

Need ego boost before the start of summer?

Doing a good deed like donating your old clothes will make you feel good because you’re doing something for a worthy cause. You’re getting rid of the clutter in your home and helping others at the same time. Not only are you helping us support refugees in Lebanon, you are helping to reduce the amount of trash and waste in the world by recycling.

Nearly 100% of the textiles in your home can be recycled and donated, regardless of the quality or condition. This means you really have no reason not to donate your old clothes! It’s better for the environment, it helps families in need.

So how can you donate?

Watch the video above, or check out our website: www.sboverseas.org/clothesup where we have all the details on how to schedule a pick up.

What DO we accept?

• Any sort of clothes, both for winter and summer seasons, mainly for women and children, but also for men
• Underwear
• Bed sheets and blankets
• Shoes and socks
• Gloves, scarfs
• Soft or plush toys

What do we NOT accept? 

• Torn or dirty clothing items
• Furniture
• Electronic devices
• Plastic toys and toys with battery or functioning with electricity

If you’d like to donate these types of items, consider bringing them to your local Les Petits Riens.

For people who live in Waterloo, Wavre and Louvain la-Neuve as well as other nearby areas: we have another center to drop them off the addressee is VitàNet Sprl, Grand’Route 236, 1428 Lillois.

Read more about SB OverSeas and make a request for pick up!

The post Support families in need during your spring cleaning appeared first on Brussels Express.

The Notre-Dame Cathedral was seriously damaged by a fire on Monday night. Donations earmarked for reconstruction efforts from rich French and foreign individuals, as well as from several private institutions, have already exceeded €800 million.

Those who wish to make a donation may do so by wiring their money to:

The King Baudouin Foundation

IBAN number: BE10 0000 0000 0404

Communication: *** 128/3137/00048 ***.

The post King Baudouin Foundation opens special fund for reconstruction of Notre-Dame Cathedral appeared first on Brussels Express.

Against the backdrop of the snowcapped Anti-Lebanon mountains and pillowy white storm clouds in the sky, UNHCR tents are covered by dense white snow: this is the reality in Arsal, one of the biggest Syrian refugee camps in Lebanon, in one of the most precarious regions of the country.

Since the arrival of Storm Norma on 6 January, heavy rains and snowfall have hit Lebanon, most severely affecting the border town of Arsal. More than 22,000 refugees living in the camp face freezing temperatures, strong winds and the imminent threat of the temporary homes of 250,000 refugee families being destroyed by the weight of the snow or flooding.

But the severe weather continues.

Storm Miriam brings with it more snow, as well as hail, thunderstorms and high winds, expecting to exceed 100 km/h. UNHCR estimates 70,000 refugees are at risk from this storm.

Even with future forecasts predicting sun, the situation may worsen due to melting snow that leaking into and flooding the shelters.

While the situation is desperate, this is a time when people are in need of material support. SB Overseas, in cooperation with the Green Helmets, recently monitored the situation on the ground and found that, urgent additional support is now needed to shelter these families from the cold.

With your help, we can provide each family with the sufficient materials to keep them warm during the remaining winter weeks. Each family is in dire need of a protective cover to insulate their shelter from the cold, blankets and several litres of Mazout (the Lebanese fuel required to heat their shelter).

30 EUR buys one protective cover to insulate a family’s shelter
18 EUR pays for a blanket
20 EUR buys twenty-two litres of Mazout fuel needed to heat one shelter
12 EUR buys 1kg of milk for children

Please make any monetary donations through bank transfer or Paypal with the term “Arsal” as a reference:

Paypal account:
sdk.be@hotmail.com (business account)

Bank account
Bank name: CBC Bank
BE42 7320 3907 1954
SWIFT : CREGBEBB
Name SB overseas asbl
Adresse Braine L-alleud
Avenue de la belle province 92 1420 Belgium

Have clothes to donate? You can always drop off donations at our office in Schaerbeek (Rue du Progrès 231), contact us to arrange a pick up (for larger donations, min. 5-6 bags, 60 litre bag size) or keep collecting donations until our 20 April event “Une Deuxième Vie Pour Vos Vêtements.” The donations go to refugees in Belgium and Lebanon.

————————-

SB Overseas is registered as a nonprofit organization in Belgium (Registration number: BE 0533.981.634). This fundraiser is linked to SB Overseas’ bank account. For those in the US, donations to the SB Overseas US Fund through the King Baudouin Foundation United States’ page https://kbfus.networkforgood.com/projects/35528-s-kbfus-funds-sb-overseas-be?

The post Help us support the 70,000 Syrian refugees in danger from snow storms, flooding and freezing in Lebanon appeared first on Brussels Express.

A charity dinner was held simultaneously in three restaurants in Brussels on February 16th at 20:00.

The three restaurants are: BON BON, BOZAR & LE CHALET DE LA FORÊT.

• BON BON (345, avenue de Tervuren 1150) Brussels by Christophe Hardiquest with Margot Janse and

Maksut Askar (Neolokal, Istanbul)

Manu Buffara (Manu, Curitiba / LA50BR, One to watch award 2018)

Willem Hiele (Willem Hiele, Coxyde)

Chiho Kanzaki (Virtus, Paris)

Alain Passard (L’Arpège***, Paris / n°8 W50BR)

Ana Ros (Hisa Franko, Kobarid / n°48 W50BR, World’s Best Female Chef 2017)

• BOZAR ( 3, rue Baron Horta, 1000 Brussels) by Karen Torosyan with Margot Janse and

Isabelle Arpin (Isabelle Arpin, Brussels)

Pascale Barbot ( l’Astrance***, Paris)

Emma Bengtsson (Aquavit***, New-York)

Sang-Hoon Degeimbre (l’Air du temps***, Liernu)

David Martin (La Paix***, Brussels)

Christope Pelé (Le clarence***, Paris)

Heinz Reitbauer (Steirereck**, Vienna/ n14 W50BR)

• LE CHALET DE LA FORÊT (43, Dreve de Lorraine, 1180 Brussels) by Pascal Devalkeneer with Margot Janse and

Joris Bijdendijk (Rijks*, Amsterdam)

May Chow (Little Bao, Hong Kong / Asian Best Femal Chef 2017)

Mauro Colagreco (Mirazur**, Menton / n°3 W50BR)

Rodolfo Guzman (Borago, Santiago / n°27 W50BR)

JP McMahon (Aniar*, Galway)

Virgilio Martinez (Central, Lima / n°6 W50BR)

Pia Léon (Kjolle, Lima / South America Best Femal Chef 2018)

Viljhjalmur Sigurdarson (Souvenir, Gent)

& Margot Janse

 » Because no one can learn on an empty stomach « 

The ten-course menu costs, 320 euros with drinks included, and all the profits will be donated to the association created in 2009 by the Dutch chef Margot Janse.

« Feeding Hungry Minds »,  provides meals five days a week to 1,500 underprivileged children in Franschhoek.

The post Charity dinner held simultaneously in three restaurants in Brussels: 25 Belgian international chefs appeared first on Brussels Express.

Two young Belgian women, Sacha Feiner and Anais Delens, have created the event Love, Dance & Give

Love, Dance & Give

Love, Dance & Give is a non-profit organisation (asbl) that organises after-work parties to raise funds for charity. The first edition supported the urban farm “La Ferme Nos Pilifs”.

For the second edition, we have decided to support RANA, a non-profit organisation that helps asylum seekers and refugees to integrate in Belgium through individual mentoring (“buddy programme”). The aim is to render the refugees and asylum seekers as autonomous as possible in their new life in Belgium.

Program :

💼 Stands : discover new products – fashion, food, beauty and other

🎧 Dj

🎤 Live Band

👏One Man Show

Where And When:

Thursday 27 September

18:30 to 01:00

Bar “Loup et Moi”, Saint-Job, Uccle

All profits will be given to Refugees Are Not Alone

Come and join “Refugees Are Not Alone” (RANA), a non-profit organisation that helps refugees on Thursday 27th September to support a good cause: render the refugees and asylum seekers as autonomous as possible in their new life in Belgium

Organisers:

Love, Dance & Give

Sacha Feiner

Anais Delens

+32 474 36 81 29

RANA

Jens Müller, Chairman

jens@rana-be.org

+32 488 367 353

The post Love, Dance and Give: two young Belgian women with the goal of making a difference appeared first on Brussels Express.

Five years later, what began as a small endeavour to help those in need, culminated in three schools and women centres in Lebanon, as well as integration and inclusion projects with unaccompanied minors in the Belgian asylum centres.

One of her main aims is to provide the women tools to regain control in their own lives. With approximately one in every five refugee’ households in Lebanon being led by a women, Louma was determined to equip these women with the necessary skills to provide a stable and secure environment for them and their children. With this in mind, she set up vocational courses to help the women provide themselves with a modest income. Women like Baida were able to explore their almost forgotten dreams of becoming a fashion designer and women like Fatima had a reason to « leave the tent she lives in and the sadness she feels, and enjoy the company of other women. »

How can you help?

Now we turn to the readers of Brussels Express, after a few years of these courses, the sewing machines are starting to become old and run down. In light of this, we started a new campaign to get 12 sewing machines for each of our 3 centres: a total of 36 sewing machines. So far we have 10 machines. We are looking for suport in this endeavour, if you have a second-hand, please contact us or alternatively you can donate to our gofundme here.

The post Women in Brussels empowering women in Lebanon appeared first on Brussels Express.

Early last Saturday morning, over thirty people from all over Belgium made their way to a small office close to Saint Denis square in Brussels. Why you may ask? Why are these people giving up one of the last sunny Saturdays in Brussels to come sit in an office all day? These people are the new SB Espoir volunteers. What is SB Espoir, you may ask? Well it is a weekend volunteering people that aims to bring together two groups of people living in Belgium: refugee youth living in asylum centres and those living and working in and around Brussels.

By 10.15am, the room was fill with people interested in getting involved with this weekend volunteering program. After a brief introduction on our projects in Lebanon and Belgium, we got to the main theme of the day of the day: SB Espoir. Our new coordinator, Marco described the program in detail outlining the aims for the future. Following this, we had a presentation from both Fedasil and the Belgium Red Cross, our partners, who explained the asylum process in great detail.

Voices of our Volunteers

During a delicious lunch, I had the opportunity to talk to a number of volunteers about their reasons for joining SB Espoir.

Cecilia, one of our longest volunteers, joined us when she moved to Brussels to do a traineeship with the European Commission. As many EU trainees (myself included), she ended up staying in Brussels. For her the reason she has remained with SB Espoir for so long, as with it ‘everyone wins’.

Hamim, who was featured in our #YourDayYourVoice article for World Refugee Day, wherein we asked refugees what the word ‘refugee’ meant to them, talked from the heart telling the volunteers that their ‘contribution was more valuable than you know’. His experience of having gone through the asylum procedure, meant he knew first-hand how important it was to have the break from the monotony of the centre, especially for the youth.

For Aizhan, known as the volunteer with a smile always on her face, made the simple point that ‘they are just kids’. Treat them as you would if they were your niece or nephew.

Plans for the next year with SB Espoir

‘Lots of sports, hiking and being outdoors, and some cultural events,’ according to Marco, our SB Espoir coordinator. In addition, offering more weekday volunteering in the centres and the possibility of starting our program in a new asylum centre.

For SB Espoir, one of our main aims is to provide the youth with a positive outlook on their future. In light of this, we are incorporating the concept of a ‘role model’ as part of our plans. This would provide the youth with an opportunity to meet people who have been through the asylum process and have become a part of Belgium community, such as Hamim. This will show the youth the possibilities that life in Belgium has to offer.

How you can help

There are a number of ways you can get involved with us. We are always looking for enthusiastic volunteers to join us on the weekend (and now possibly the week). Secondly, are you or do you know someone who would be open to being a role model for these youth? Let us know! Last but not least, we are always planning exciting activities for the youth, so are you part of a sports team, run artistic workshops or do vocational training, let us know and we can see how we can collaborate.

The post Spending the weekends with Brussels Refugee youth: Part II appeared first on Brussels Express.

In Brussels two entrepreneurs have looked into the matter closely and have come up with an innovative idea: Happy Hours Market, created by Ludovic Libert and Aurélien Marino.

To better understand the life cycle of food at supermarkets, the logistics behind its processing and handling, as well as the ideas for improvement brought about by Happy Hours Market, Brussels Express speaks this month with Ludovic Libert.

Could you please describe the current situation at supermarkets? How and when do they determine that food ought not to be sold to the public any more? What mechanisms do they use to dispose of it?

Legally speaking, food cannot be sold once the use-by date has expired. Therefore, every day before closing, supermarkets have to withdraw from their shelves the items which will “be expired” the day after.

However, the majority of these goods are still good to eat on the same day or could also be frozen to be consumed weeks later.

Being more and more concerned by their “Corporate Social Responsibility”, nearly all Belgian supermarkets give a maximum of their surplus to non-for-profit organizations. The remainder – which represents enormous quantity of food – is simply thrown away.

We are thus not alone in believing that such a waste is unacceptable, especially in light of the poverty in Belgium. Unfortunately, due to a lack of resources, charities are not able to collect even a percent of what is wasted every day. Food waste quantities are tremendous, especially in Belgium, with an average of 10.400 tons per day, while charities manage to collect around 10.000 tons per year.

At the end of the day, more than a million people live under the poverty line in Belgium; hence do not have enough income to properly eat, while an average of 7 tons per minute of good food is simply thrown away.

This is why we believe Happy Hours Market will be useful. It will provide daily access to shops’ unsold food, just after their closing, at reduced price. Happy Hours Market aims to be an online platform where we can buy food at a very attractive price, between 8pm and 10pm. Happy Hours Market also intends to foster charities food collection: all the goods that are not sold before 10pm will be brought by Happy Hours Market directly to charities.

Why do you think nobody had done what Happy Hours (you and Aurélien) decided to do?

I think that a lot of people already tried to tackle food waste. Everyone has its own way. For instance, in Belgium there exists a huge network of charities called “Bourse aux dons”, gathering a hundred of charities that are able to supply thousands of households. Nevertheless, due to their non–profit aspect, their growth potential is bound by the generosity of governments and the time of their volunteers.

For its part, Happy Hours Market proposes another way of reducing food waste, which will complement the amazing work performed by non-profit organizations. We strongly believe that using the benefit of technology to gather food waste and inform the customers can be a great way to further reduce the garbage bins in front of the supermarkets and to meet the needs of people who want to buy groceries at reduced price.

Is Happy Hours a non-for-profit (ASBL)? If not, could you describe your decision process when you chose the type of organization Happy Hours would be?

Happy Hours Market will be a commercial company focused on its value propositions: we aim at significantly decreasing food waste and, at the same time, providing people with a new opportunity to buy food at reduced price.

We believe that creating economic value from the food that should normally be thrown away is a good way to incentivize supermarket to work with us and to help the customers discover new ways of consuming goods. If more supermarkets contribute to, and more customers buy their groceries from, our platform, less food will be thrown away.

While the impact that non-for-profit organizations may have generally depends on the means provided by governments and the generosity of their volunteers, our goal is to develop a self-sustaining business model that contributes to reduce food waste.

This willingness has therefore led us to explore a commercial approach in order to achieve our objectives.

How did the test period go? Could you share some overview of the results? What are the next steps?

We have been positively surprised by the enthusiasm generated during this test period. As from the first day at the ULB Campus, more than 40 people came to buy goods which we collected an hour before. And they kept coming more and more during all week.

Our wish was to test the distribution logistic in order to discover constraints that we would not have detected otherwise. We found that our operational business seemed solid, although we still have a lot of work to do.

At the end of the week, we collected around 500kg of food from which we sold about the half. The remaining 250 kg were given to refugees.

In the near future, we will develop the online platform that should allow people from everywhere in Brussels to access their neighboring shops’ unsold food. It should be effective within a few months as from now.

We are very thrilled at the challenges ahead!

Good to know

Be informed via Facebook page “Happy Hours Market” and www.happyhours.be.

The post Food waste averages 10,400 tons per day in Belgium – Happy Hours Market wants to do something about it appeared first on Brussels Express.

So begins the manifesto of Serve the City, a movement of volunteers helping those in need through regular practical acts of kindness. The non-profit organization sends volunteers all over Brussels to assist the homeless, the asylum seekers, the elderly, the disabled, children in need, and victims of abuse.

A link between volunteers and non-profit organizations

Serve the City or STC engages volunteers and connects them to charitable organizations and humanitarian initiatives. It builds a bridge between those who need help and those who would like to help.

“We love to establish partnerships with non-profit associations and create projects that would help them. Then we recruit volunteers to be involved. Our main objective is how we can engage people in caring for other people around them,” says American pastor and STC founder Carlton Deal.

A global movement that started in Brussels

STC is now present in 65 cities around the world. But it all started in 2004 when Deal came to Brussels to form an interfaith community. “We didn’t want to be just people who meet in a building over there and singing songs. We wanted to be people who really engage in the social needs of the city,” explains Deal.

In 2005, STC organized its first one-week service in Brussels with the participation of hundreds of volunteers. “It was amazing how meaningful it was for people to volunteer. We were making a difference, but the biggest impact was probably in our hearts,” recounts Deal.

Since then, Serve the City has evolved into a global movement of good Samaritans « serving cities in practical ways and inspiring people to be givers in this world. » And Deal says, practical kindness begins with a smile and a hello.

“Sometimes we think about people in a stereotype or in a category like people who are homeless. It changes a little when I meet a person who is homeless and I go and I speak with him or when I say hi to him. Now I know his story and it begins to change. I see him as a person,” says Deal.

“We know them by their needs. What if we knew them by name?”

Making charity work simple, doable, and practical

STC provides a simple, doable, and efficient system for people who would like to do something to help those in need. Deal says, “A lot of times, people struggle to get involved in charity work because the problem seems too big and it just seems overwhelming. That incapacitates people. And we want to say, no, we can be kind. So we organize ways that people can express kindness, whether it’s playing sports with kids or serving a meal or teaching a language. It’s the kind of thing that anybody can do.”

Each day of the week, STC volunteers go to different Brussels neighborhoods and extend help in various ways. They serve meals to the homeless, interact with families seeking asylum, provide support and friendship to women in crisis, help kids with their homework or play board games with them, distribute books to the homeless and the refugees, and many more.

Every year in July, STC conducts the Big Volunteer Week, a great way for first-time volunteers to participate in spreading love, compassion, and hope across Brussels. People can also join the Big Volunteer Day, an opportunity to serve once a month on a Saturday and bond with fellow volunteers and project leaders.

“Once you’re involved, you see the harmony between – this is good for the person I am serving and it is good for me. I think there are three components: what it does for the people I serve, what it does for me, and the friendships you build with other people,” says Deal.

“It’s in our soul, it’s something we’re meant to do. And it gives us joy and meaning.”

The post International Day of Charity: Crossing the line between the haves and the have nots appeared first on Brussels Express.