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Orphanage baby help. Help not the orphanage, but the children

On June 1, Children's Day, we have prepared a certificate that will be useful to those who would like to help children, but do not know how to approach this. To whom to transfer money, where to donate toys and clothes, what else can be done - some answers (but not all) in our material.

Money

Several major charitable organizations operate in Russia:

Some philanthropists consider gifts a bad idea - especially when it comes to valuable things. Elena Alshanskaya, director of the Volunteers to Help Orphans Foundation, says that only what the orphanage needs should be donated. Out of good intentions, people want to donate expensive clothes or equipment, but this can, on the contrary, harm the child: after leaving the orphanage, he will no longer be an orphan whom everyone wants to help. But he will grow up with the idea that he is constantly owed. If you want to support children left without parents, it is better to give them attention.

Photo:
Alexandra Krasnova / TASS

Live communication

Children from orphanages spend most of their time surrounded by teachers and caregivers. It is very important for them to communicate with adults, because they can set a good example or help with choosing a profession. Of course, movie characters always inspire children to heroic deeds, but real stories are also important and necessary.

Photo:
Valery Sharifulin / TASS
If you are ready to spend time with orphans, then you can, for example, contact the Volunteers to Help Orphans Foundation. This organization has many programs aimed not only at communicating with children from orphanages, but also at supporting those who are in hospitals.
You can also become a mentor for a child. It is very important for children from boarding schools to see the world outside their room. You can invite your child to go to the store with you, go to the country house or help with repairs. Before becoming a mentor, you need to prepare and undergo training. Several foundations are involved in this, for example, "Big Brothers Big Sisters".

Other good deeds

Good deeds don't have to take a lot of time. For example, you can rummage through your closet and collect clothes that you are unlikely to wear anymore. It is good if things are clean and in good condition.
Worth a try to turn them in Second Friend Store. To do this, you need to fill out an application on the site, attach photos of clothes and a short description.

You can also take the clothes to the Charity Shop, which will then sell them, and donate the proceeds to the Second Wind Foundation. By the way, the fund also has separate reception points in Moscow. The list can be viewed on the organization's website.
Clothes, shoes and bags can be donated to Good Things. Some items are donated to those in need. Another is being sold, and the proceeds are used to buy equipment for the rehabilitation of children with disabilities from state rehabilitation centers in Moscow and the Moscow region. Good Things has several collection points, and project participants can come to you and pick up things themselves.

Photo:
Artem Geodakyan / TASS

P.S. Be assertive in your desire to help foundations and other nonprofits. There are always not enough people and a lot of work. Of course, not all charitable foundations are represented in our note - it is impossible to list them physically. If you want to support children, you will find dozens more ways to do so.

On average, each child in the orphanage receives 19 gifts for the New Year. If you think this is good, you are wrong. How toys and gadgets prevent orphanage graduates from socializing and how to properly participate in charity were discussed on December 8 at a round table organized by the HSE Charitable Organization "Open Your Eyes" together with .

Charitable project managers, psychologists and other experts told how to help and do no harm.

Elena Alshanskaya

President of the charity fund "Volunteers to help orphans"

Ruslana Yatsenko

Psychologist, specialist in work with orphans

Mila Geranina

Project coordinator "All together against scammers"

Naila Novozhilova

Chairman of the Board of the Charitable Foundation "Arithmetic of Good"

Elizaveta Muravkina

President of the Charitable Foundation "Galchonok"

Ekaterina Grishunina

Project Manager "Seizing the opportunity"

Natalia Tolochenko

Head of Corporate Social Responsibility for the Moscow and Northwestern regions of Coca-Cola HBC Russia

Anna Chuprakova

Director of the Charitable Foundation "Bureau of Good Deeds"

As a result of the discussion, we made a checklist for conscious New Year's charity.

How not to help?

“We make gifts for the soul, not for show,” said the director of the HSE Center for Leadership and Volunteering at the beginning of the meeting. But it turns out that even gifts made from the heart can turn into evil for the recipient. “Everyone wants to become a bit of a magician, and we need to make sure that magic is not black,” said Irina Vorobyova, a journalist for Ekho Moskvy and the moderator of the meeting.

Here's what you definitely don't need to do so as not to turn the New Year's miracle into "doing good."

Giving gifts to children you don't know

Experts are unequivocally against huge bags of gifts that are brought to orphanages "from sponsors". And the problem is not only that they have no soul. These are gifts to unknown children from unknown adults.

Elena Alshanskaya, President of the Volunteers to Help Orphaned Children Charitable Foundation:“Such gifts blur the boundaries between alien and not alien. You say to your children, "Don't take anything from strangers." And this is what we, it turns out, teach children in orphanages: “Take everything from unfamiliar uncles and aunts, hug them!” In general, it is not accepted in our culture that unfamiliar adults give gifts to children. And the orphanage gets used to this, and if an unfamiliar uncle or aunt starts hugging him or giving him something, he perceives this as the norm. And outside of the orphanage, adults rarely do this with good intentions. And so our wards are more likely to become victims of unpleasant relationships.”

You can please a child with a gift if you become his mentor, that is, you regularly visit him and know his needs and interests.

Give material gifts

In fact, orphans receive many gifts for the New Year - from the state, sponsoring companies, and private donors. No matter how much the gift costs, it traumatizes the child's psyche and prevents him from socializing, studying and looking for a job in the future.

Elena Alshanskaya:“When we start to build a beautiful life for a child from an orphanage with holidays and gifts, he experiences positive emotions, but due to a lack of communication, he gets hooked on a “thing” drug. That is, by giving gifts, you raise a person who will really want an iPhone, but will not want normal human relationships.

Ruslana Yatsenko, psychologist, specialist in work with orphans:“I work a lot with graduates of orphanages, and during this time I noticed that some guys, when they grow up, replace any relationship with gifts. They try to express themselves solely by the level of income and the number of gifts they can give to their peers. Children believe that the one to whom mentors and visitors give gifts is cool, and the one who is not is a sucker. And if children begin to communicate with a person, and then he did not give them anything, they are at a loss. Often they come up with the thought “We need to promote this person for gifts.” We really had problems when the mentor came without a gift, and for the child it was something incomprehensible: “Why do I need this person if he does not give gifts?”. It takes years to change that attitude."

Give money and gifts to dubious organizations

If you have any doubts about the integrity of the organization that collects, contact the experts who will help you recognize scammers. The first signs of fraud: collection boxes, lack of feedback and reporting, and insufficiently specific collection goals - proven funds never collect money for abstract “gifts”, but always clarify what is specifically needed.

Mila Geranina, coordinator of the project "All together against scammers":“Who are these scammers? Anyone can be a scammer. These can be both those who call themselves activists, and those who call themselves foundations, but in fact they are not. And yet, unfortunately, representatives of the orphanage can be scammers - no one has canceled corruption either. Any transfer of money directly without any expert opinion is also a type of fraud. You don’t need to figure out whether the scammer is in front of you or not - there are organizations that help orphanages that you need to contact with this question. If they tell you that gifts are needed, then this is really necessary. But you don’t need to “do good” yourself.”

What is really needed?

care and communication

A child has a very high dependence on an adult, so nature has developed such a mechanism as attachment. And what distinguishes a child from an orphanage from a domestic child is that the orphanage child does not have these attachment relationships, there is no personal adult. And this is the basic, basic need. The longer the child does not have his own adult, the worse the personality develops.

Nailya Novozhilova, Chairman of the Board of the Arithmetic of Kindness Charitable Foundation:“There is such a thing as a “significant adult”. And this is exactly what the child needs, as well as social and domestic skills. This is a priority because children lack a permanent significant adult. You can teach them how to build social relationships and show them the outside world.”

Become a friend to the child. Come to him regularly and communicate, showing that a sign of love and care is not only a gift, but also long conversations and time spent together.

Children in orphanages are always in need of a “significant adult”, and a new mentor will be the best help, not a package of paints.

It is important to understand that becoming a mentor for a child is not so easy - you need the desire and willingness to devote time to this work. It is also important to take special courses and not abandon the child after two or three visits. This is a very serious and regular story.

Knowledge

Experts stressed that it is important to look at the "future" of a gift: how it will affect the child and whether it will help in the future. For some reason, many people forget that you can give not only material things, but also life experience, money to pay tutors and mentors, books.

Ekaterina Grishunina, project manager "Taking the opportunity":“Education is one of the most affordable ways to move up the social ladder. That is why, by helping orphans to become smarter, we make sure that in the future they can be full-fledged and efficient members of society.”

Money for specific needs

Experts call for donations not just like that, but for specialized projects that have a purpose.

Ekaterina Grishunina:“With us, on the “Taking the opportunity” platform, if a person wants to help, he chooses a specific case or an internal project that performs some target task. I look at these amounts [money collected on the platform. — approx. ed] and all the time I dream that people who spend a lot of money on gifts just go to “Taking the opportunity” and complete some specific goal. People are confused by the fact that the money goes not specifically to help children, but to their education.”

Elizaveta Muravkina:“At our foundation, the volunteer coordinator sends small needs mailing lists, and you can always subscribe to this mailing list. We need to help in this way, because we are [charitable foundations. — approx. ed] know what a particular child needs at a particular moment.”

It is necessary to donate not only to orphanages, but also to the elderly, and the sick, and young adults, because such collections are difficult.

Socialization

Gifts from children can be taken away, but impressions, knowledge and experience will remain forever. Therefore, experts advise organizing events in orphanages aimed at the socialization of orphans, and not at entertainment.

Natalia Tolochenko, Head of Corporate Social Responsibility for the Moscow and North-Western regions of Coca-Cola HBC Russia: “This year we plan to hold events that will be organized by completely different guys - with different social status, with different physical and mental capabilities. These events will be held on the territory of their institutions, where they themselves will learn how to create a New Year's mood. There will be learning areas where children can learn something. The bottom line is that children exchange contacts, they learn to communicate and socialize.

Experts recommend organizing events that give children from orphanages useful knowledge and skills that will be useful after graduation. To do this, you can hold lectures, career guidance events and open lessons.

Elena Alshanskaya:“It is important to understand what the child's prospects are. In a good way, at events you need to draw the potential out of children and remove entertainment, because it will only teach children relaxed consumption. They will not be able to work and think about the future. Therefore, it is necessary to help with the choice of a university, with self-determination. Master classes and holidays are only a part of communication, but not the main form. Imagine if the teachers did not teach us, but only showed us how to weave from beads. It is necessary to give normal opportunities, not useless skills. It is necessary that the child leaves the orphanage and he has the opportunity to compete with you in the labor market.”

Also, experts are against mass events. For a child from an orphanage, going to the cinema or theater alone, and not in a group, is an unusual and very pleasant experience.

How to act correctly?

Help systematically

Children need help throughout the year, not just on holidays. Therefore, experts urge to give money to permanent projects or connect recurrent payments.

Anna Chuprakova, Director of the Bureau of Good Deeds Charitable Foundation:“To help once a year, and then forget about it, is wrong. It is better to invest in a project that works not only in December, but all year round.”

Contact expert funds

Funds know how to transform available resources, even the usual 500 rubles from a student, into the necessary help. As with any transformation, 80% of efforts turn into 20% of benefits, so don't blame expert funds for inefficiency.

Nailya Novozhilova:"Experts know the desires of specific beneficiaries, understand the amount of resources, opportunities and tasks of companies and can properly use them."

track results

One of the main principles of conscious charity is the belief that donations have been beneficial.

It is important not to scatter over many funds and not forget about donations, but to choose one project and work with it until a visible result appears. Reputable organizations give feedback and provide reports, and you can easily be convinced that your money or gifts really made someone's life better.

Spread information

We do not talk much about charity, and many "do good" only out of ignorance. Therefore, experts note that disseminating information is as important as making donations and volunteering.

Anna Chuprakova:“It is important not just to deposit your 100 or 200 rubles, but to tell your friends and colleagues: “I alone can’t do much, let’s all get together and do it.”

Conduct scientific research

The experts asked students to conduct any kind of research on this topic, from sociological to psychological, because the research that the foundations conduct has no official status, and it is often not enough.

Elena Alshanskaya:“We suffer greatly from the lack of scientific research on this topic in our country. And the existing works that I have read are of very poor quality. We, as experts, try to tell you what to study, and you have the opportunity to explore some very important things for us during your studies.”

conclusions

Orphans really need your help. But paints, cookies and toys, which are brought in tons for the New Year to orphanages, are not just not needed - they are harmful. Instead of giving gifts to strangers, it is better to donate money for their education and socialization. And the best New Year's miracle that you can create for a child is to become a volunteer and give attention, friendship, communication and experience.

Useful links and funds

"Take this opportunity to" . Here you can create a charity event and raise money for the needs of foundations.

Charitable Foundation "Galchonok". Helps children with CNS damage, orphans and children from low-income families.

"Volunteers to help orphans". A fund that raises money for the education of orphans and financial assistance to children's institutions. Here you can transfer funds or become a volunteer.

"Our Children". The Foundation takes care of children, teaching them useful skills. New Year's campaign "Give skills instead of toys!"

Foundation for the Support of the Deaf and Blind "Connection". Here you can learn how to communicate with deaf-blind people, become a tutor for them and donate money.

Any society and state has a single problem - orphanhood, in which minors end up in orphanages and boarding schools, where they are provided with certain support. Of no small importance here is the assistance provided to orphanages by sponsors and charitable organizations.

Children's charitable foundations of Russia

The activities of these organizations are often due to the fact that the government provides treatment for children in need. Citizens are seriously concerned about the future of the current generation, so charity is developing and prospering every year.

Assisting employees of medical and educational institutions in Russia, the foundations provide assistance to sick and orphaned children.

It mainly includes:

procurement of medicines and/or fundraising for them;
purchase of medical and sports equipment;
payment for treatment;
volunteering in clinics and orphanages;
providing food, hygiene products, clothing and footwear;
provision of books, stationery, educational toys.

It cannot be said that children with disabilities, or with oncology, or children who have lost their parents are in priority for aid funds. It is important to give the opportunity for full development, to give a piece of warmth and kindness to everyone.

A huge number of charitable organizations providing assistance to children are concentrated in Moscow. However, despite the location, support for sick and needy children from various foundations is provided throughout the country.

Funds for helping orphans

The pupils of shelters and boarding schools most of all need warmth and understanding.

Children left without the care of their parents and relatives are considered poor and in need of material and financial assistance.

To date, there are many organizations that are ready to support orphans:

Help.org. Participates in the life and activities of citizens with serious illnesses, sends charity to orphanages, including boarding schools.
Rusfond. Supports seriously ill children, orphans and the disabled.
"Good for the Children" - a charitable foundation takes care of minors from shelters, boarding schools, the sick and those who find themselves in a difficult life situation.
Volunteers to help orphans. Solves the problems of orphanhood, socialization, ensuring the rights to family relations and childhood.
"Change one life." Creation of a database with video profiles of Russian orphans, preparation of future parents, advice on family placement, support for foster families.
"Blago.ru". Association of philanthropists to make an unbearable contribution to support orphans and refuseniks.
"Our Children". Preventing minors from entering an orphanage, organizing effective systems for family placement, supporting orphans and their successful integration into society.

Support for children with cancer

There are a huge number of organizations that provide assistance to children with oncology, for example, the Nastenka Foundation.

Here are the biggest ones:

"Life ". The Foundation provides charitable assistance to children with cancer, including those with hemoblastoses.
"Nastenka". Support for children with cancer who are being treated at the Blokhin Research Institute and Russian Cancer Research Center of the Russian Academy of Medical Sciences.
WorldVita. Provides sick children, including those with cancer, with treatment in the best Russian and foreign medical institutions.
"Gift a life ". Participation in the life of minors with severe and, in particular, oncohematological diseases.
"Mercy" - as a charity, it collects money for the treatment of sick children with various diagnoses.
NONC - the fund aims to help children with cancer, including psychological, household and leisure activities.
"Foundation of K. Khabensky". Organization of examinations and treatment of brain diseases, purchase of medicines, rehabilitation, assistance to medical institutions.

Funds for disabled children

Disabled children also need provision, socialization and other types of support, so specialized charitable foundations are of great importance for our society.

Below are the most famous of them:

Foundation "Step Together" - assistance to disabled children with cerebral palsy.
"Galchonok". Treatment and rehabilitation of minors with organic lesions of the central nervous system, social and psychological assistance to relatives.
"Help the child.ru". Fund for helping teenagers and kids with disabilities, serious illnesses.
"Help with deed". Support for underage citizens with disabilities, collection of the amounts necessary for treatment.
"Children of Russia" is a charitable foundation that is part of the World Federation of Associations, Centers and Clubs of UNESCO.

How to help children?

Happy children are the highest gratitude for their support.

When discussing how and how to help children, you should know some of the features and nuances of helping orphanages:

Toddlers require communication with people from outside, whom they elevate to the rank of goodies. The wards of boarding schools need someone to look up to.
Inmates of orphanages are essentially in a closed space, so it is very important to take them to theaters, museums and other institutions.
The wards should be sent to classes in a certain club, section, circle, based on their abilities.
You can become a trustee and take wards into the family. Minors grow up, build their own families, and it is very important that they realize what a new unit of society should be like.
Quality education is considered an important part in the life of children from orphanages. Often, boarding school employees are unable to provide each child with a decent education.

When helping financially or materially, you need to understand that the philanthropist performs the role of a trustee.

Financial aid

Financial support consists in donating certain amounts to orphanages for various needs or collecting money for the treatment of a particular child.

Having a desire to raise money for treatment, one should be completely imbued with the problems of the child and go to the end, and in some cases become his trustee.

The most common way to organize fundraising is to post information on social networks. In order not to cause doubts among people who are ready to help, lay out full information about the problem (medical documents, reports on therapy, account details, etc.).

material support

Financial assistance is always relevant, especially for children with disabilities. State institutions, which take care of citizens with disabilities, are not always able to acquire the necessary equipment even for the minimum restoration of health, promotion and normal life in society.

Social participation consists in the purchase of wheelchairs, prostheses, exercise machines, specialized beds, mattresses and other necessary items.

Volunteering

People who are not related to sponsoring and supporting organizations can also provide all possible assistance to orphanages. These helpers are called volunteers.

The purpose of their charity is to help both sick children (organizing the collection of money for treatment) and those who have lost their parents (material support).

In addition, volunteer groups visit orphanages and medical institutions with entertainment programs.

Video: Volunteers at the Children's Cancer Center.

Conclusion

If you are a volunteer or philanthropist, have a child in care who needs financial assistance for treatment, organized a collection for children with oncology, and help disabled adults who need financial assistance, you can use the form below and ask for help from sympathizers or wealthy people .

Since the New Year is coming soon, and many will want to polish their karma by showering gifts on completely unfamiliar children in the nearest orphanage, I decided to show you one important text. I warn you right away: the text tells why this is not possible. And the point is not at all in ethical considerations (although they are also in them), but in specific harm. But enough spoilers! Now you will find out for yourself.

Since I am not an expert in helping children, a professional will tell you about the problem. A few years ago, the magazine "Takie Dela" published an excellent article that explains why emergency gifts for children in orphanages are harmful. Unfortunately, over these few years the situation in Russia has hardly changed.

A word to Anna Puchkova, an expert in the field of charity, volunteering and corporate social responsibility:

“No gifts to orphanages. Yes, I don’t mean at all: “Guys, urgently help, this year we don’t have enough gifts for the unfortunate disadvantaged kids in orphanages,” I mean exactly: “Please, stop bullying over children from orphanages, showering them with gifts.

I understand that the text of this article will be very painful to read for about half of those who are going to do this (be strong, positive at the end). And the other half will silently and sadly nod and say: “Yes, I also talk about this all the time, but that doesn’t stop anyone.” I know that the first article will cause frustration or even aggression. Therefore, I want to say right away: “Yes, I also really love children and people in general”, “Yes, I myself also do something to help others, namely, I devote about 95% of my time to this, not counting sleep”, “Yes , at one time I visited a huge number of orphanages and even lived in one for a week, right in a group with children”, “Yes, I deal with volunteers from more than 20 regions of the country, and everywhere there is exactly the same as in Moscow” . So guys, instead of being frustrated, let's just try to make our help at least a little more effective, that's what we all want, right?

So, why is it still impossible to give gifts to orphanages, and what can be done instead?

Take, for example, an ideal situation, that is, a situation in which all children got the same gifts, all equally, an ideal situation that excludes the possibility that the gifts did not reach the children. A situation in which a teenager did not sell a gift to buy cigarettes or beer. Or when the gift wasn't used to make someone jealous or simply show superiority ("look what I have, you don't"), usually after that the gift is either broken or stolen as soon as the owner has distracted himself from it, and, of course, this is very bad both for the owner and for the one who broke or stole.

So, even in this ideal situation (and you understand that this does not happen?), giving gifts to orphanages, boarding schools, social shelters and other forms of state orphanages (I emphasize - especially state ones) is destructive for the child's psyche , because according to statistics, during the New Year holidays, a child from an orphanage visits about 17 Christmas trees and events and receives about 19 gifts (in the Moscow region - 25). Do you understand that this is just a survival marathon? Do you want to be the 26th who came running frantically to love a child you did not know yesterday? What about 18s? The saddest thing is that...

In the next month and a half, billions of rubles will be spent on toys, teddy bears, sleds, Barbies and even tablets, phones and iPods (yes, many children ask for exactly this, and many adults buy it for them, although they themselves guess that there is something it's not)

All this is monstrous because it brings up a terrible dependency, the child gets used to the fact that they give him something all the time, give, perform, and without any effort or visible reasons for him. Some exalted people constantly come who frantically try to love them all to death in half a day and move on (I know, because I myself was exactly the same). And then suddenly the child turns 18, and ... And nothing, no one goes to him, no one showers him with gifts, no one cares about the problems of "an adult healthy guy who has to go to work." Why should he? You only taught him to beg, you didn't teach him to earn. You taught him to accept gifts and amusements and thought that he should somehow guess about work. As a result, only 10% cope with this state of affairs, while the rest become drunkards, get into crime and prisons, and commit suicide. Think about it! 10%! 90%!

Children in orphanages (and I mean in this case all state institutions of this type) live according to the rules of a gloomy, inhuman and merciless system created at the beginning of the 20th century. Their pupils are not considered part of society, and therefore they do not become one. They are considered poor and unfortunate, miserable and deprived, and only truly sincere and professional charitable foundations are struggling with their socialization, trying to give them back the motivation to live, strive for something and achieve their goals, fill them with faith in their own strengths and suit them in families.

“Well, everyone helps as best they can,” they often answer me offendedly at the mention of professional funds. No, no, I'm not at all against a little help, and I know for sure that EVERYONE can help. But this is not about helping. I am writing all this just to explain - gifts to orphanages for the holidays and without them, as well as a bunch of fun activities for the holidays - this is not help, this is harm.

I will give an example from my own practice, when many years ago I came as part of a group of volunteers to one of the orphanages in the Tver region. We agreed on a visit in advance, prepared competitions and performances, clarified with the director that there would be no one except us that day. When we arrived, another group of volunteers left right in front of us, and the children, stretching, left the assembly hall with gifts. They hoped to go about their business, but the director ordered them to urgently go back to the hall, because "sponsors arrived", and the children wandered off to watch our next songs and dances, which they absolutely did not need. What benefit did we bring them by forcing them to sit in the assembly hall for half a day? What benefits can be brought by a master class on weaving baubles and soap making?

Well, what then to do and how to help, if there is such a desire?

I promised a positive at the end, and here it is - you may not only be needed, but very needed! For example, if you want to have a truly festive event, then organize it for children with disabilities. And try to take them somewhere out of the house, in our country they are so rarely given such an opportunity. And even better - consult with specialized funds and organize a joint event for ordinary children and children with disabilities. This will be very helpful for both.

If you definitely want to give someone a gift, that is, children with cancer, there are children from low-income families, and just those who are on long-term treatment in the hospital, you definitely won’t spoil them. There are also elderly people, people in hospices and hospitals, paralyzed people, prisoners (everyone forgets about them) - they will all be happy with your warmth and attention, they will need your gifts and will be gratefully accepted.

Well, if you want to do something specifically for children from orphanages, then my advice to you is to donate money or become a volunteer in one of the funds that really change their lives and save them:

"Change One Life"- they find a father and mother for children, and there is nothing more precious than this gift.

One of the oldest and most professional foundations dealing with the socialization of orphans.

"Volunteers to help orphans"- they strive to keep as many children as possible in the family and prevent them from falling into orphanages, and also take care of the smallest refuseniks from zero to four years old.

"Big change"- systematic tutoring and development of orphans, they help them enter universities, find themselves in life, gain independence and independence.

With the money that is spent annually on teddy bears for children living in a concentration camp, these funds can really save them, get them out of there, protect them, take care of them.

Everything that I have described in this article is far from new, and any expert in the field of philanthropy will tell you exactly the same thing. Many companies and just kind people have already understood this and are beginning to abandon the system of giving gifts and entertainment to orphanages, and this cannot but rejoice.

Nevertheless, finishing the article, I also sadly look into the eyes of its readers, because most of them will agree with it closer to the beginning of the new year, when they return from orphanages, leaving another dose of gifts there ... "

Orphanages bring sadness and fear to everyone who has never been to them personally. Indeed, what could be sadder than thousands of babies growing up without parents in specialized institutions throughout our vast country? Meanwhile, instead of worrying and sympathizing at a distance, each of us can personally help orphans. Orphanages in Moscow are constantly in need of new employees and volunteers, finances and some specific things, and are also happy to accept people who have decided to become parents.

Everyone can help

The concept of charity in our country today is subjective. Almost every week we watch and read news about new charity events and foundation reports. Most often, organizations brag about the millions collected for the treatment of specific children, turnkey repairs made in children's institutions and other global actions. This situation stimulates the development of a stereotype - only wealthy people can do good, and charity as a phenomenon is an expensive pleasure. All this is a big delusion, even the Baby Houses in Moscow, despite the well-being of the region, gladly accept any help. And there is nothing wrong with the fact that you want to do a good deed, but today you have the opportunity to spend very little time and money.

Where to begin?

Assistance can be different - it is financial investments, communication with pupils, work in an institution on a voluntary basis. Decide right away how serious your intentions are, what resources you have. If you are afraid that you will not be able to constantly visit the Children's Home, it is reasonable to limit yourself to a transfer to a charitable foundation or a one-time trip to the chosen institution. For those who plan to devote a significant part of their lives to helping orphans, it is useful to think about regular visits or even patronage of the chosen kids. Decide on a specific orphanage or try to get to know experienced volunteers. All Orphanages in Moscow have their own special rules and strict requirements for voluntary helpers. It is important to learn and remember them as quickly as possible.

The needs of the orphanage

Many institutions have their own websites, where the topic with a list of necessary things is updated in a timely manner. Needs can be different: from specific toys to interior and household items. Those who wish to help can independently purchase some of the listed items or transfer money to purchase them. Review the organization's acceptance policy. Not every orphanage in Moscow accepts used clothes and toys. For a number of institutions, a prerequisite is the presence of labels and receipts confirming that the item is new. The same is true for food products. Some Baby Houses in Moscow are happy to accept cereals, juices and purees in the original packaging, while others flatly refuse such help.

What is patronage?

Children's institutions in Moscow and the region are well funded. For this reason, they often need help not material, but physical. We all know that vacancies "job, Baby House (Moscow)" are not prestigious. In institutions for infants and children of younger preschool age, volunteers (who have passed a medical examination) are sometimes allowed to care for the wards. Also, many orphanages are not against the organization of holidays and one-time visits by volunteers. And yet, one of the main needs of orphans is communication. The best option for those who are confident in their own abilities and desire to help is patronage. This type of relationship involves friendship. Usually, a volunteer gets to know the chosen child by correspondence, and only after the contact is established, does he come personally. This option is optimal, since the child's experiences will be less vivid if the boss stops communicating.