ZAGREB, 23 May, 2021 - The president of the Women's Union of the Croatian Democratic Union of Bosnia and Herzegovina (HDZ BiH) party, Marina Pendeš, on Sunday gave the head of a care home in Petrinja HRK 100,000 for the reconstruction of the home, damaged in last year's earthquake.

Croatian Deputy Prime Minister Tomo Medved was also present.

The HDZ BiH Women's Union organised the fund-raising and raised a total of HRK 140,000, with 40,000 to go for the reconstruction of the Dragutin Tadijanović Elementary School in Petrinja.

The fund-raising for the reconstruction of the school was initiated by HDZ BiH president Dragan Čović together with the Croat mayors, municipal heads and heads of cantonal governments in BiH.

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May 4, 2021 - Croatia has received great recognition. The best restaurant in the world, the Danish NOMA, Renea Redjepija, declared the Banija Chefs team from the Chef Cooks Home Association the heroes of the pandemic after they called on everyone who showed up to help in any way to apply.

Večernji List reports, the Chef Cooks Home Association nominated chef Bojan Kljajić, the chef in Sisak during the chefs' humanitarian work after the earthquake in Petrinja, and the volunteer coordinator, Mirta Livingston.

"We are proud to confirm that NOMA announced yesterday that our team has been declared the heroes of the pandemic and will be the first to visit when the restaurant opens after the lockdown, for which they will cook a special dinner," they wrote on the official Instagram page. More details were revealed by chef Mirta Livingston.

"I fainted from happiness when I saw the mail in the evening that we received the award. We have been very kindly asked to confirm that we accept it by May 6th".

"They give a prize by organizing a "Heroes of Pandemic" dinner, and when I found out, I didn't even think about how many winners there were," says the excited volunteer from Banovina who teamed up with many chefs in the earthquake-stricken area, including famous chef Mato Janković. They prepared more than 20 thousand meals for the citizens of Petrinja and the surrounding area.

The dinner will include heroes of the pandemic from all over the world, about a hundred of them - from Croatia to India. "Considering that they only provide dinner, and we pay the travel and accommodation costs ourselves, I don't know how, say, someone from India will get to Denmark," said Mirta.

"So when you ask me what I hope for, I know that Bojan and I can go at our own expense, and my thinking goes in the direction, given that we do not represent Mirta and Bojan, or even the Association ... we represent Croatia, and they are Croatian volunteers between which there is no difference," claims Livingston, explaining that the final recipient of help does not care if someone from Pleter, the Red Cross or their association cooks for him.

"We prepared more than 20 thousand meals and baked two tons of cakes for 0 kuna and thank God that the whole of Croatia is as it is, with a big heart, so that we had donations with which we could do it."

The Chef Cooks at Home association ”is just a wheel, and Bojan and I are an even smaller wheel," Mirta said and added: “ We are talking about Croatia here. That is the Croatian story. I'm not quite sure if it's okay that Bojan and I pay for the ticket ourselves. That ticket can cost 200 euros, and if we found donations for 20 thousand meals, I believe we will find it for a plane ticket, but that is not the point of the story. The point is that Croatia could show the whole world by our example that Croats are good and organized People!" concludes Mirta.

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April 11, 2021- The severe earthquake that struck Sisak-Moslavina County on 29 December 2020 destroyed the building housing the Petrinja Municipal Library and Reading Room. Still, it has now reopened a housing container, making it possible for residents to enjoy books again.

"We think we have succeeded because, as I said in our requests for help, a city without books is not a city," the director of the City Library, Ante Mrgan, said earlier this week on the occasion of opening the first container library in Croatia.

Several days after the devastating earthquake, Mrgan and his colleagues started rescuing the books and equipment. They would enter the library's storage space wearing protective helmets and sort the library stock, with each new tremor posing an even greater danger.

"At that time, when I entered the library building, it hadn't yet been classified as 'red.' The earthquakes were happening all the time, and it was impossible to know when stronger ones would occur," the director recalled.

After a quick inspection, the building was declared unusable, and each new tremor caused more damage. The last one occurred a few days ago, and new consequences can already be seen. There is no concrete information about the damage because the Petrinja Open University manages the building. However, the documentation preparation is underway, and we will see what the profession will say, Mrgan said.

The building is located on sandy and soft ground. During the construction in the 1940s, pillars of an old Turkish fortress were found. The basement is very humid, and the building had cracked in some parts even before the earthquake due to heavy traffic, requiring repairs even then, the director noted.

He added that he would like the building to be torn down and a new and safer one built for all the cultural needs of the people of Petrinja.

Today, the library and its stock are housed in 11 containers, and there is a playroom for children in one of them.

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January 11, 2021 - 100,000 kuna has been raised through the Wolt campaign for Petrinja earthquake victims organized by three of the most famous Croatian chefs - Braco Sanjin, Hrvoje Zirojević, and Ivan Pažanin.

Dalmatinski Portal reports that the fantastic trio of Split chefs, composed of Braco Sanjin, Hrvoje Zirojević, and Ivan Pažanin, succeeded in their humanitarian action for the victims of the earthquake-affected parts of Croatia.

Recall, in cooperation with Wolt.hr and Solidarna.hr, and colleagues Stjepan Vukadin, Soniboj Grgin, the Kadena team and volunteer chefs, Sanjin, Zirojević, and Pažanin cooked a variety of traditional dishes that the citizens of Split could order from the comfort of their own homes via the Wolt food delivery platform.

Numerous small and large local entrepreneurs, family farm owners, butchers, fishers, bakers, chefs from all over Croatia, olive oil producers, spice shops, retail chains, and associations, as well as winemakers from all over Croatia, responded to the action. Thus, each customer that ordered four dishes was gifted a bottle of wine and a surprise gift.

Every day of the action, from noon to 10pm (or while supplies last), customers could order their famous pasticada with gnocchi and other traditional dishes like fuzi with truffles, seafood risotto, boiled meat with tomato sauce, bolognese, fish filet, bakalar, and more. No matter what you ordered, each dish was 60 kuna.

Most days were cut short for the famous chef trio, who were oftentimes left with only a few portions of a single dish by 4pm! 

So it's no wonder this campaign was a success. 

"Dear citizens of Split, thanks to you and numerous sponsors, we have reached our goal, and in the five days of the action, we collected 100,000 kuna. Many thanks to Wolt and Kadena Restaurant for their contribution to this charity event! And thank you to all of our colleagues," said chef Braco Sanjin upon the completion of the action. 

Bravo!

For more on the Petrinja earthquake and to see how you can donate money, food, humanitarian, sanitary, and material aid, follow our dedicated section.