Giving is Receiving [antikvár]

preface Our volume, published on the occasion of the International Year of Volunteers serves the purpose of calling the attention of representatives of the Hungarian civil society, government agencies, and the competitive sector alike to the thousand year long traditions of voluntary effort, to the charity work that has characterised the work of our historical churches from the very beginning. In what follows, we will present the process of voluntary employment in the civil societies of the 17-18th centuries, which, in accordance with the current set of values, built up the willingness to help as a grassroot process fuelled by self esteem, and motivated by the inner drive of the individual. The authors have found the historical background important as it may call extra attention within the Hungarian population to the significance of civil structures from the point of view of the entire society. One should bear in mind that wealthy civil societies recognised centuries ago that the contribution of voluntary work is indispensable for their existence. This effort translates easily into financial indicators, and the moral impact it works on the society is invaluable for both the volunteer and those who benefit from the service. The present volume is a collection of summaries of volunteer projects, the related training programmes, the outcome of related research, and the initiatives carrying indicative value in a civil society taking shape from the change of régime until today. Our endeavour will, as a necessity, fall short of completeness, but our ultimate aim was to call the attention of the Hungarian society to the essence of voluntary work, a notion still interpreted by researchers in a variety of ways. On the governmental side the Ministry of Social and Family Affairs did its best to contribute, through its own research programme, through subsidising and organising civil research projects,