RRI Live!

Listen to Radio Romania International Live

30 Days Smoke Free Challenge

A 2-in-1 campaign: 30 days to give up smoking, at the same time raising funds for charity.

30 Days Smoke Free Challenge
30 Days Smoke Free Challenge

, 23.08.2015, 14:00

Galantom.ro — a fund-raising platform we already mentioned in one of our shows last year — starts off on the right foot this year with a two-in-one campaign: 30 days in which you should give up smoking, at the same time offering support and raising funds for charity.



Galantom was born out of the initiative of young people with a passion for social programmes and IT, who chose to get involved and develop non-profit programmes with a positive impact on Romanian society. In the following minutes, Andrei Chirtoc, cofounder of the Galantom platform is telling us more about this project.



Andrei Chirtoc: “We want to make a point there is more to life than cigarettes. People who don’t smoke are in better physical shape and in better spirit too. Our idea, which we are trying to implement together with the counselling centre for giving up smoking with the Marius Nasta institute, is to launch a challenge for smokers. Of course everybody knows the reasons why one should give up this bad habit, but we’d like to offer them an extra reason, namely participation in a charitable act. We have devoted a site to this campaign, which is called galantom.rosmokefreechallenge. If you visit the site first you have to choose one of the causes you want to support, then you make your own fund-raising page and for 30 days you’ve got to try to donate the money you’d otherwise spend on cigarettes. You support the cause, but you’ll also benefit support and that’s motivating, because you can invite all your friends and relatives to make donations and support you. After 30 days without a smoke, there are five times more chances for a person to give up smoking altogether. If you want to break this bad habit it’s OK, because there are lots of benefits and if you don’t, it’s also a good thing because you have proven yourself, proved that you can give up any time and besides, you have supported charity, with positive effects on the community.”



The most frequent diseases smoking is causing in Romania are heart-related, such as heart attacks and strokes, which do not necessarily kill but can cripple one. Experts believe that giving up smoking only after a year can cut the risks of such illnesses to half.



Even if hardened smokers already know what smoking is doing to them and the risks posed by such a habit, Galantom.ro is offering them an extra reason to renounce smoking — joining charity with visible benefits for community life. We’ve asked Andrei Chirtoc if this commitment in front of the others works as a better motivation.



Andrei Chirtoc: “Of course it offers a better motivation. And I’ve seen that in people who are involved in various fund-raising campaigns and run the first marathon of their lives; they are very motivated because the others support them and that doesn’t let them give up. We hope that the same principle will hold true for 30 Day Smoke Free Challenge. Somehow, we also count on the promises we made to our friends or relatives because ultimately, the conflict with smoking occurs between relatives, whether they are your brother, sister, mother, father or lover, who keep pestering you to give up smoking because it does you no good. The promises made and the public campaign are likely to make the person joining the campaign give up smoking”.



The fund-raising webpage is customized, allowing users to make a photo album, choose a motivation and directing them to an online donations site for the cause they support. The participant in the campaign donates the money he or she would have spent on cigarettes on his or her page or at the end of 30 days. The respective person also promotes his cause online and offline and encourages the people in his or her social circle to also make donations supporting his or her charitable cause and effort. We asked Andrei Chirtoc whether there were many people daring to join the marathon of giving up smoking.



Andrei Chirtoc: “We launched the campaign last week and we have four applicants whom we keep in touch with and who will hopefully turn their intentions into deed. We think that this new and creative campaign or idea might get people’s attention and make them rise up to the challenge”.



One can safely make donations online, on the fund-raising page of Galantom.ro. Since August 2013, Galantom.ro has succeeded in bringing together over 50 organizations, 738 volunteer fund raisers and over 5,000 donors who have raised more than 760,000 lei for projects with an impact on the community, in the field of healthcare, education, the environment, community development, social inclusion and sports.

Culture and Cultures
Inside Romania Tuesday, 03 December 2024

Culture and Cultures

The Designers, Thinkers, Makers Association has created a program labelled “Culture and Cultures”. Its eventual aim is to highlight Romania’s...

Culture and Cultures
Organizers of workshops
Inside Romania Tuesday, 26 November 2024

International Day of Nonviolence in Iasi

This fall, in Iași, the International Day of Nonviolence was marked, which was established by the United Nations in memory of Mahatma Gandhi...

International Day of Nonviolence in Iasi
Expoziția Bauhaus 2024
Inside Romania Tuesday, 19 November 2024

Bauhaus colour and creativity in Bucharest

In the 1990s, the Bauhaus school emerged in Germany, from the association of the German words bau – to build and Haus – house. Highly...

Bauhaus colour and creativity in Bucharest
Baccalaureate for All
Inside Romania Tuesday, 12 November 2024

Baccalaureate for All

The 2024 baccalaureate had the highest passing rate in the last 10 years, at 76.4%. However, the confrontation with the “maturity exam”...

Baccalaureate for All
Inside Romania Tuesday, 05 November 2024

The New Year That Never Came

Today we are discussing a movie. And we chose this theme, because “The New Year That Never Came”, the first feature film of the director...

The New Year That Never Came
Inside Romania Tuesday, 15 October 2024

Traditional crafts in Gorj

In 2008, the UNESCO Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity list was officially created, in accordance with the provisions of the “Convention...

Traditional crafts in Gorj
Inside Romania Tuesday, 24 September 2024

Baccademia: the baccalaureate exam for everybody

The 2024 session of the baccalaureate exam in Romania has seen the highest promotion rate in the last decade, accounting for 76.4%. Notwithstanding,...

Baccademia: the baccalaureate exam for everybody
Inside Romania Tuesday, 17 September 2024

The Doina

The Botanical Gardens in Bucharest hosted a new edition of a very special festival called Dor de doină dedicated to the doina, a type of Romanian...

The Doina

Partners

Muzeul Național al Țăranului Român Muzeul Național al Țăranului Român
Liga Studentilor Romani din Strainatate - LSRS Liga Studentilor Romani din Strainatate - LSRS
Modernism | The Leading Romanian Art Magazine Online Modernism | The Leading Romanian Art Magazine Online
Institului European din România Institului European din România
Institutul Francez din România – Bucureşti Institutul Francez din România – Bucureşti
Muzeul Național de Artă al României Muzeul Național de Artă al României
Le petit Journal Le petit Journal
Radio Prague International Radio Prague International
Muzeul Național de Istorie a României Muzeul Național de Istorie a României
ARCUB ARCUB
Radio Canada International Radio Canada International
Muzeul Național al Satului „Dimitrie Gusti” Muzeul Național al Satului „Dimitrie Gusti”
SWI swissinfo.ch SWI swissinfo.ch
UBB Radio ONLINE UBB Radio ONLINE
Strona główna - English Section - polskieradio.pl Strona główna - English Section - polskieradio.pl
creart - Centrul de Creație Artă și Tradiție al Municipiului Bucuresti creart - Centrul de Creație Artă și Tradiție al Municipiului Bucuresti
italradio italradio
Institutul Confucius Institutul Confucius
BUCPRESS - știri din Cernăuți BUCPRESS - știri din Cernăuți

Affiliates

Euranet Plus Euranet Plus
AIB | the trade association for international broadcasters AIB | the trade association for international broadcasters
Digital Radio Mondiale Digital Radio Mondiale
News and current affairs from Germany and around the world News and current affairs from Germany and around the world
Comunità radiotelevisiva italofona Comunità radiotelevisiva italofona

Providers

RADIOCOM RADIOCOM
Zeno Media - The Everything Audio Company Zeno Media - The Everything Audio Company