Corporate Social Responsibility

The year 1991 marked the beginning of the construction, near Braşov, of the first complex for disadvantaged children, called “Poiana Soarelui”.

The complex was inaugurated three years later. Formed of 11 houses and a central pavilion, the “Poiana Soarelui” Complex provides to the orphan and abandoned children the idea of “home” and a life with good perspectives for the future. Sponsored by the Ţiriac Group, the “Dumbrava Minunată” Foundation (referred to, at first, as the "Casa Copilului" Foundation) is run by qualified personnel, thus ensuring good conditions for the education of 86 orphans.

So far, almost 100 Romanian orphan children have found a home in Poiana Soarelui. The children are involved in daily educational activities adapted to their ages; the complex also organizes trips in the mountains, holidays at the seaside or in other resorts all over the country, which are beneficial for the health and the well-balanced development of the children. Due to the Foundation's partnerships and with the continuous support of Mr. Ion Ţiriac, the children have participated in European events (Expo Hanover 2000), they have visited Europa Haus in Austria, attended holiday camps in Greece and visited countries like Germany, Italy, Spain and the USA.

As a goal the Foundation is the further social integration of the children, the private complex has strong connections to the life of the neighboring community. The children and the adolescents attend public schools in the city and are actively involved in the life of the community, participating in joint projects with the local authorities. Some adolescents have already chosen independent life, leaving Poiana Soarelui, either to live with their former families, or to have their own family (currently, the Foundation has its first “grandchildren”).

The children who expressed their wish to attend higher education institutions were able to do so, due to the moral, educational and financial support provided, the personnel of the foundation also functioning as spiritual mentors. The activity of the „Casa Copilului” Foundation, which spans over 13 years, has observed all the European standards and regulations imposed by the Romanian laws in force in the field of child protection, such conformity being acknowledged by the operating permit obtained.

Starting January 1st 2007, the Casa Copilului Foundation changed its name into the "Dumbrava Minunata" Foundation, a name which fits better the current and future activities of its members.

As Romania has another disadvantaged social category, namely the old people, in 2008, due to the sponsorships obtained from companies belonging to ŢiriacHoldings, the Foundation started the works required to further develop 6 houses of the existing 11 facilities, on the premises of the „Poiana Soarelui” Complex. These 6 houses shall be dedicated to the disadvantaged elderly persons. The reconstruction of the houses shall be made according to the latest European standards, providing the required level of comfort for the development of the activity in good conditions. The personnel of the Foundation has graduated specific courses held by the Red Cross, in order to be able to attend the needs of the old people category.

At first, the bakery was built to serve the following purposes: providing the Complex with the required bakery products, as well as creating a workshop where the children cared for in the Complex would be able to learn the basics of the occupation of baker and pastry-cook, to work in an organized environment, and to build teamwork abilities.

Later on, as there were many unused resources, another idea emerged, namely to sell the production excess, in order to use the generated funds to directly support the social work activities. The strategic decision to prepare both traditional products, as well as baked specialties using original recipes lead in time to the creation of the Bakery’s own identity.

Not long thereafter, our own bakery products found their way to the shelves of hypermarket networks, such as Metro, Selgros, Carrefour, Billa, and Cora. The Complex decided to sell these products also directly, through a network of shops.

The quality and originality of our products enabled us to participate, for 10 years, in various sport events and festivals, both locally and nationally: the Open Romania Tennis Tournament, the Davis Cup, the Braşov Tennis Tournament and other events organized by Ţiriac Holdings.
Due to legislative requirements, we have set up, in 2007, the company SC Poiana Soarelui SRL, whose sole shareholder is the “Dumbrava Minunata” Foundation of Bucharest.

The newly created company has taken over and assumed entirely the location, the personnel structure and, most importantly, the purpose of this facility – to support the social work carried out in the “Poiana Soarelui” Complex in Braşov.