The 'Let's Get Children to School' campaign has started in Vitebsk
According to Dmitry Rachkovsky, a specialist of the BRCS city organization, the charity campaign runs from August 1 to September 15 in all cities and regions of Belarus. Its main goal is to raise funds for the purchase of necessary stationery and items for children in the most vulnerable situations – those with disabilities, from refugee families, as well as other children in need of assistance.
– You can join the campaign by donating funds through the ERIP system using campaign code 222, or by handing over pre-purchased school supplies through our volunteers at shopping centers across the country. Businesses have the opportunity to provide sponsorship assistance, – noted Dmitry Rachkovsky. – Last year, thanks to donations, partnership, and sponsorship, over 7,000 children in Belarus received so-called "dream backpacks" containing stationery, as well as children's clothing and shoes for both business and sports were provided.
The first recipients of assistance from the BRCS city organization in Vitebsk were employees of OJSC "Vitebskiye Kovry." Artem Lohankin, the General Director of the enterprise, thanked the Red Cross volunteers on behalf of the entire team, and also noted that such assistance breaks the public stereotype that charitable organizations more often collect funds than give them away.
– We are very pleased that the Red Cross leadership has paid attention to the employees of our enterprise and provided them with sincere and gratuitous assistance. This way, our employees will at least partially feel the care of this public organization, – noted Artem Lohankin.
Thus, a pair of shoes was received by seamstress Natalia, who is raising two children in a single-parent family.
– Of course, I try to get the children ready for school on my own, but it can be very difficult. Therefore, such social support is very important to me, such gifts are never superfluous, – Natalia said.
Two refugee brothers from the Republic of Afghanistan, Ramin Wasim and Fardin Samim, communicated with Vitebsk Red Cross volunteers with particular warmth, as the first ones who helped the foreigners upon their arrival in Belarus were employees of the city organization of the Belarusian Red Cross Society.
– We turned to the Red Cross for help, and they provided it, we received refugee certificates and financial assistance, – the brothers noted. – We have been working at OJSC "Vitebskiye Kovry" since 2019, one of us is a material cutter, and the second is a packer. First, we lived in a dormitory from the enterprise, and now we rent apartments and live with our families.
Ramin Wasim has four children, and Fardin Samim recently got married and is now raising a one-and-a-half-year-old daughter with his wife. The brothers are very grateful for the help of the Red Cross, as well as the enterprise, for constantly providing them with social support.
"Vitebskiye vesti"