'We ensure that matches remain intact or even grow'

They call it "nothing more than normal": doing something for someone else. Yet it is remarkable how much Roos Fleuren (HR director at DELA cooperative) and Anna-Geertje van Eert (manager of the DELA Fund and events) and their team have achieved through the Brainport voor Elkaar dinner. 'If you can help, then you help.' 

'What makes this dinner so wonderful is that it's not about grand gestures, but about sincere commitment,' says Anna-Geertje, who acted as chair during the anniversary edition. 'Sometimes, spending half a day thinking about communication is worth its weight in gold for an organisation.' Roos agrees. She recounts the time that DELA cooperative printed 2,000 sheets of teaching materials for a foundation that helps children preserve their native language. 'Thos small gestures are often the basis for someting bigger.'

Matching process up front

Roos attended the dinner for the fourth time in May this year and set the matching process in motion beforhand. 'I ask board members what they want to contribute and what they can offer. On the evening itself, I then try to make suitable matches. If people feel a sense of ownership beforehand, they are much more willing to invest time and energy in a match.' Anna-Geertje also recognises this power: 'intrinsic motivation is necessary. You have to really want it, otherwise it won't stick.' 

From soup bikes to lunches for the elderly

DELA has now supported an impressive list of initiatives through the dinner. From accompanying lunches for the elderly through the Met je Hart Foundation to an unforgettable bridal show, in which fifteen companies collaborated. Or the Leger des Heils soup bike, for which hotels in the region have been cooking soup for years and volunteers take to the streets to distribute it. 'Twice a week, rain or shine. It started as a match at a dinner, but it's still going strong,' says Roos. Roos and Anna-Geertje are therefore commited to long-term collaboration. 'Just like the collaboration with the Weekend School or the Danspaleis, where colleagues are still working as volunteers.' 

'Experience it'

Twenty Helmond-bases companies and social organisations will be joining Helmond Sport for dinner on 3 November. The food will be prepared by students from the Praktijkcollege. 'The dinner shows what is possible when you engage in open dialogue,' says Roos. And so Anna-Geertje is keen to pass on something to other organisations. 'Experience it. The sincere encounters, the openess and the energy: you go home feeling good. And as my slogan says: Start where you are, use what you have and do what you can.' 

The Brainport voor Elkaar dinner is offered by DLL, NXP, Philips and the municipality of Eindhoven in collaboration with Samen voor onze Regio and Brainport voor Elkaar.