How to start the year with good deeds
Author: Julia Korovski
The new year you always want to start with something good, and in this sense there is no better option than to help those in need. Today, it’s not even necessary to leave the house: the options for who and how to help are easy to find online. We talk about five Russian-language sites that will help to believe in yourself and people.
Blog "Inspiration. Inspiring Kindness"
This blog publishes stories that appear on the news sites in the “Life” section: they are easy to miss by reading interviews with politicians and reviews of new smartphones. "Neighbourhood neighbors harvested for the injured farmer," "The bus driver learned sign language to help deaf passengers," "The visitor secretly paid for the dinner of grieving women" - definitely not the most sensational headlines. However, the author of the blog (a certain Pavel from Kiev, an employee of the online media) began to lead him three years ago, during a period of life crisis, and claims that this helped him. "I became a different person in a way - more of myself. And the optimism that I received in recent years in the process of blogging and communication inspired me not to back down from regular contact with such stories." Fact: A website about sometimes unobtrusive everyday kindness can inspire. Read the five stories in the morning - and faith in humanity will return even on the hardest Monday.
Community "Tuguesa"
The community of caring people, which spontaneously formed from users of the popular site Dirty.ru during the 2010 Moscow summer fires. Their first action was to collect money to help volunteer firefighters. But the reserve of kindness of the participants did not dry up, and the fight against fire was followed by the purchase of equipment in the operating room of the district hospital, the repair of a shelter for mentally retarded children and many other examples of targeted assistance. At the moment, about 30 stocks have been completed, and it would be pointless to list them here - it is better to read more about this on the website. “Tuguze” in principle refuses to turn into a charitable foundation, preferring to remain a living, changing and mobile group of people who can always be offered help or give up the idea of a new action. You can help by investing time and effort, or financially - by making a donation according to the popular "who does not mind so much" scheme through the electronic payment system. To the question "Where did my money go?" Detailed financial reports and photo reports are responding - the community proclaims “transparency” as one of its main principles. For three years, "Tugheze" managed to become one of the most famous volunteer associations. This is a living and inspiring example of the fact that the theory of small things really works, and that is the case when the Internet brings together.
DonorSearch donor search service
This project allows you to join the ranks of "donors on demand", ready to help a specific person on request, without having to do it on an ongoing basis - and what could be more generous than donating your own blood? It is also possible to seek help: in the community of the project in social networks, more than 300 grateful comments have been collected from those for whom this method has worked. In addition, DonorSearch is working to curb the activities of fraudsters who publish requests for donation with paid phone numbers on the Internet. Over four years of work in the project database, 13,906 volunteers have registered, of which 11,368 live in Russia. Is this enough for a huge country, does the project justify the effort? Do not rush to answer. If numerous commercials do not work, perhaps this attempt will be able to change something. "After all, for the first time, by donating blood, someone might understand that it is simple and, most importantly, very necessary, and will later become a personnel donor, and for those who have already donated, but forgotten or donated unsystematically, participation in the project will allow “Alarm clock” for another blood donation ", the DonorSearch team hopes.
Charity Foundation "Old age in joy"
The site of the eponymous charitable foundation to help people with disabilities and older people living in nursing homes. He encourages participation in a variety of ways: from active visits to the wards, transport and food assistance, to moral support and donations via the Internet and SMS. Interesting fund programs that go beyond standard social assistance. "The Book of Memory" is a record of old people's stories about life, about war, about the epoch: an important socio-cultural action, the end result of which (published book) may be no less interesting than the famous "Appeal to the Hearing" by Anton Ponizovsky. "Grandchildren by correspondence" are designed to help older people feel needed. The coordinators of this program post photos of lonely old people in a special album on the site, and the volunteers in the comments tell who they want to correspond with. There are many young people who want to join, despite the strict rules: do not interrupt communication and send messages at least once a month. Grandparents can not always answer, but keep pictures of "grandchildren" on the bedside tables and are looking forward to the postman. The correspondence has already reached 2,000 elderly people, and more than 85 nursing homes in 24 regions of the country are currently under the patronage of the foundation.
Interactive map for disabled people "Barrier.net"
Interactive map of places equipped for wheelchair users. It was created by the Foundation for Legal Protection and Support for Disabled Persons "Without Barriers" based on Google Maps and is available for editing by users. This is not the only Internet project of this kind: the map on the website of the Youth Council under the mayor of Moscow contains more objects, and therefore, is more detailed. However, for residents of other regions, it is useless, and here Barierov.net or successful local development will help out. The site team rather effectively attracts enthusiasts: for six months, from April 25 to October 31, 2013, it held the “Accessible City” campaign, the winner of which got an ipad, smartphones were presented for the first and second places, and stroller. A useful result was the mapping of more than 6,000 objects in different cities. If the activity of good people and volunteers of specialized funds does not decline, it is likely that in a couple of years we will finally see people with disabilities on the streets, in parks, cinemas and museums.
Of course, These organizations and communities are not the only way to help or ask for help. The same Yandex, upon request, kindly provides a whole catalog of charitable foundations. And it is not necessary to show kindness online, because abandoned old people, disadvantaged teenagers and, finally, relatives, to whom we do not pay enough attention, live very close to each other. But it is worth remembering that there are a great many ways to charge yourself with kindness and extend it to others, and, among other things, this is a good anti-depressant therapy.