How to help orphanages. Help not the orphanage, but the children. What is really needed

Dear site guests!
The orphanage really needs your help!

In 2010, Rassadina Arina, our champion in arm wrestling and orienteering, graduated from high school and entered adulthood. She really dreams about beautiful dress to the prom.

The girls try to sew pillows for themselves using embroidery and pick them up after leaving orphanage, this requires materials (fabric, tapestry, threads and printed material).
The guys had the opportunity to repair and assemble mechanisms. We really need spare parts for assembling go-karts.

The orphanage requires permanent work:
1. Educational psychologist with at least 10 years of experience (family consultations).
2. Additional education teacher (pop song, choreography)

You can help our children!
HOW:

Orphanage- a large family, and like every family there are difficult life situations: getting the children ready for school, last call, prom, purchasing for everyone all the necessary school supplies, briefcases, so fashionable today, but so expensive, workbooks in all subjects, sports uniforms, costumes for children’s performances and sports. Our children, just like those at home, or rather much more than those at home, need this, because they do not take care of things and do not know how to be responsible for something. Our children really need a change of environment, warm, trusting relationships from adults and close people, and it is impossible to give them this warmth in an orphanage, no matter how hard we try.

Excess energy should be directed in a positive direction: sports, choreography, work. It is very important to get children interested in these activities, so that it becomes not only a free pastime, but also a profession, a way of life, a core that would protect them from harm.

The state took care of the orphans, they are well fed, provided with summer and winter recreation, we have a lot of theaters, clubs that offer tickets to various events, a lot of gifts for New Year, but 50 boys and girls require constant attention and help, they constantly need medicine, vitamins, gifts for birthdays, they, like all ordinary children, really like gifts bought only for them, taking into account their interests, habits and wishes.

Our new details:
Our details have changed since 01/01/2010
Transfers by non-cash form:
Payment account 406 038 107 0000 3000009
in branch 1 of the Moscow State Technical University of the Bank of Russia, Moscow 705
BIC 044583001
L/account 079 859 2000 930 496
KBK 985.303.03.02002 0000180

Payment receiver:
(FKU South-Western Administrative District of Moscow)
Address of the recipient: 117574, Moscow, st. Vilniusskaya, 7, building 3

Payer: State educational institution Orphanage No. 37 of the Moscow Department of Finance
(FKU South-Western Administrative District of Moscow)

Transfers in cash:
Payment account 40116810300330000114
At OJSC "Bank of Moscow" Branch "Gagarinskoe"
BIC 044525219
Cor/account 30101810500000000219

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 give toys and clothes, what else can be done - some answers (but not all) are in our material.

Money

There are several large charitable organizations operating in Russia:

• Some philanthropists consider gifts a bad idea - especially if we are talking about valuable items. Director of the Volunteers to Help Orphans Foundation Elena Alshanskaya says that you should only give what the orphanage needs. With good intentions, people want to give 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 in debt. 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 almost all their time surrounded by teachers and educators. 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 heroes 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, or help with repairs. Before you become a mentor, you need to prepare and undergo training. Several foundations are doing this, for example, Big Brothers Big Sisters.

  Other good deeds

  You don't have to spend a lot of time doing good deeds. For example, you can rummage through your closet and collect clothes that you are unlikely to wear anymore. It's good if things are clean and in good condition.

  It's worth trying to trade them in at the Second Friend Store. To do this, you need to fill out an application on the website, attach photos of clothes and a short description.

  You can also take your 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 collection points in Moscow. The list can be viewed on the organization's website.

  Clothes, shoes and bags can be donated to “Good Things”. Some of the things are given to those in need. The other is sold, and with the proceeds they 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 persistent in your desire to help foundations and other non-profit organizations. There are always not enough people and there is a lot of work. Of course, not all charitable foundations are represented in our article - it is physically impossible to list them. If you want to support children, you will find dozens of other ways to do so.

This section contains links to projects and organizations that are not members of the “All Together” Assembly. Some of them are regional, some are corporate, and there are simply volunteer groups. In any case, they were not formally included in our Assembly for one reason or another. However, these are all our friends, colleagues and associates. We are doing a common cause, and this unites us much more than membership in any organization.

Help for orphanages and children's homes

http://miloserd-bud.ru/ - orphans and children with disabilities - assistance in treatment, rehabilitation, respect for rights, family arrangement. City of Astrakhan

www.rcws.org - Society for Aid to Russian Children

www.cirota.ru - orphans of Russia and CIS countries. Anyone who cares about the problem of orphans.

http://community.livejournal.com/semja_rebenku - online community "Family for a child"

http://community.livejournal.com/detdom/ - community about orphanages. Here we discuss the problems of orphanages, the problems of children living and growing up without parents.

http://www.invisible-children.org - the charitable community "Invisible Children" helps orphans find bosses and pen pals

http://community.livejournal.com/kinderhilfe/ - website of the "Invisible Children" community, which helps orphans find bosses and pen pals

http://www.hopeww.ru/ - website of the Hope Around the World Charitable Foundation. The main direction of the fund is the social adaptation of children in orphanages and boarding schools, disabled children, as well as single pensioners and WWII veterans.

http://www.rusbereza.ru/ - website of the Charitable Foundation for Assistance to Orphans and Large Families

http://mama-2.ru/ - website of the Krasnodar regional public organization "Second Mother", helping orphans

http://assistancerussia.org - website of the public charitable foundation "Assistance", the purpose of which is free support and comprehensive assistance to orphans. The site is dedicated to the problem of orphans in St. Petersburg and the involvement of broad sections of society in solving it.

http://pomosch-detyam.by.ru/ - “We are together” program for children from orphanages in the Yaroslavl region. The program is dedicated to the memory of Valery Kharitonov.

© Essentials Collection/ iStock. Ekaterina Tamilina/ Higher School of Economics

On average, each child in an 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 charity organization "Open Your Eyes" together with .

Leaders of charitable projects, psychologists and other specialists told how to help without causing harm.

Elena Alshanskaya

President of the Volunteers to Help Orphans charity foundation

Ruslana Yatsenko

Psychologist, specialist in working with orphans

Mila Geranina

Coordinator of the project “All together against scammers”

Nailya Novozhilova

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

Elizaveta Muravkina

President of the Galchonok Charitable Foundation

Ekaterina Grishunina

Head of the project “Taking advantage of the opportunity”

Natalia Tolochenko

Head of Corporate Social Responsibility for the Moscow and North-West 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,” noted 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 out to be evil for the recipient. “Everyone wants to become a little wizard, and we need to make sure that the magic is not black,” said Irina Vorobyova, a journalist at Ekho Moskvy and the moderator of the meeting.

Here's what you definitely shouldn't do so as not to turn a New Year's miracle into “doing good.”

Giving gifts to children you don't know

Experts are clearly 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 Orphans charity foundation:“Such gifts blur the boundaries between what is foreign and what is not. You tell your children: “Don’t take anything from strangers.” But this is what we teach children in orphanages: “Take everything from strangers and hug them!” In general, in our culture it is not accepted that children are given gifts by strangers. But an orphanage resident 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 the orphanage, adults rarely do this with good intentions. And that’s why our students more often become victims of unpleasant relationships.”

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

Give material gifts

In fact, orphanages receive many gifts for the New Year - from the state, sponsoring companies, and private donors. Regardless of how much the gift costs, it traumatizes the child’s psyche and prevents him from socializing, studying and looking for work in the future.

Elena Alshanskaya:“When we begin 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 “stuff” drugs. That is, by giving gifts, you are raising a person who will really want an iPhone, but will not want normal human relationships.”

Ruslana Yatsenko, psychologist, specialist in working with orphans:“I work a lot with graduates of orphanages, and during this time I noticed that some children, 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 who is given gifts by teachers and visitors is cool, and the one who is not is a sucker. And if children start communicating with a person, and then he doesn’t give them anything, they are at a loss. Often the thought occurs to them: “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 doesn’t give gifts?” It takes years to change this attitude.”

Give money and gifts to dubious organizations

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

Mila Geranina, coordinator of the project “All together against scammers”:“Who are these scammers? Anyone can be a fraudster. These can be both those who call themselves activists and those who call themselves foundations, but in fact are not. And, unfortunately, representatives of the orphanage can be scammers - corruption has not been canceled either. Any direct transfer of money without some kind of expert opinion is also a type of fraud. You don’t need to figure out whether this is a scammer or not - there are organizations that help orphanages, to which you need to contact with this question. If they tell you that they need gifts, then they really need them. But you don’t need to “do good” yourself.”

What is really needed?

Caring and communication

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

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

Become a friend to your child. Visit 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 always lack a “significant adult,” and the best help would be a new mentor, not a pack of paints.

It is important to understand that becoming a mentor for a child is not so easy - you need 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 emphasized that it is important to look at the “future” of the 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, and books.

Ekaterina Grishunina, head of the “Taking this Opportunity” project:“Education is one of the most accessible ways to move up the social ladder. That is why, by helping children from orphanages become smarter, we make sure that in the future they can be full-fledged and productive members of society.”

Money for specific needs

Experts urge donations not just for the sake of it, but for specialized projects that have a purpose.

Ekaterina Grishunina:“On our “Taking an Opportunity” platform, if a person wants to help, he selects a specific case or internal project that fulfills some target task. I look at these amounts [money raised on the platform. — approx. edit] and I always dream that people who spend a lot of money on gifts would simply go to “Take advantage of this opportunity” and complete a specific goal. What confuses people is that the money goes not specifically to helping children, but to their education.”

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

Donations need to be made not only to orphanages, but also to the elderly, the sick, and young adults, because such collections are difficult.

Socialization

Gifts may be taken away from children, but impressions, knowledge and experience will remain forever. Therefore, experts advise organizing events in orphanages aimed at socializing orphanages, and not at entertainment.

Natalia Tolochenko, head of corporate social responsibility for the Moscow and North-West regions of Coca-Cola HBC Russia: “This year we are planning to hold events that will be organized by completely different guys - with different social status, with different physical and mental capabilities. These events will take place on the territory of their institutions, where they themselves will learn to create a New Year's mood. There will be learning areas where children can learn something. The point 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 out the potential from 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, we need help with choosing a university, with self-determination. Master classes and holidays are only part of communication, but not the main form. Imagine if teachers didn’t teach us, but only showed us how to weave with beads. We need to give normal opportunities, not useless skills. It is necessary for the child to leave the orphanage and have the opportunity to compete with you in the labor market.”

Experts are also 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 call for donating money to permanent projects or connecting recurring payments.

Anna Chuprakova, director of the Bureau of Good Deeds charity foundation:“Helping once a year and then forgetting about it is wrong. It’s better to invest money in a project that works not only in December, but all year round.”

Contact expert funds

Foundations know how to transform available resources, even the usual 500 rubles from a student, into the necessary help. As with any transformation, 80% of the effort turns into 20% of the benefits, so there is no need to blame expert funds for inefficiency.

Nailya Novozhilova:“Experts know the desires of specific beneficiaries, understand the amount of resources, capabilities and tasks of companies and can use them correctly.”

Track results

One of the main principles of conscious philanthropy is the belief that the donations are beneficial.

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

Spread the word

We don’t talk much about charity, and many people “do good” only out of ignorance. That's why experts say spreading the word is just as important as donating and volunteering.

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

Conduct scientific research

The experts asked students to conduct any type of research on this topic - from sociological to psychological, because the research conducted by the foundations does not have official status, and it is sometimes 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 low quality. We, as experts, try to tell you what needs to be studied, and you have the opportunity to explore some things that are very important to us during your studies.”

conclusions

Orphans really need your help. But paints, cookies and toys, which are brought in tons to orphanages for the New Year, are not only unnecessary - 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 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 foundations.

Charitable Foundation "Galchonok". Helps children with central nervous system injuries, 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 by teaching them useful skills. The New Year's event “Give skills instead of toys!” is held here.

Foundation for the support of the deaf-blind “Connection”. Here you can learn to communicate with deaf-blind people, become a tutor for them and donate money.