How to help those in need, except money

2024 Author: Malcolm Clapton | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-17 03:44

Your professional skills and free time can be much more useful.

Charitable foundations and non-profit organizations usually collect money to help those in need. For them, it is not so much the size of donations that is important as the regularity: this helps the foundations to plan their activities for a long time.

However, not everyone can spend a portion of their income on charity every month, and some simply do not trust their money to foundations. In this case, you can help not only with unnecessary things, but also with personal participation, your professional and communication skills.

How to help financially

Orphanages

Inmates of orphanages can be given not only gifts. It is just better to refuse this: toys and other things are easily exchanged for cigarettes and alcohol, become objects of quarrels and fights, and in general, children get used to receiving household items just like that, which subsequently greatly interferes with them in adult life. Instead, you can donate a lot of really useful things to the orphanage.

• Cosmetical tools: baby creams, shampoos and washing gels, soaps, toothbrushes and pastes.
• Hygiene products: diapers, diapers, cotton swabs and pads, tissue paper and toilet paper.
• Baby food with a sufficient shelf life.
• Office: paper, notebooks, albums, coloring books, colored pencils and pens, pencil cases, plasticine and kits for creativity.
• Household goods: washing powder, detergents, bottles, teats, pots. Bed and unused baby underwear.
• Educational games: puzzles, puzzles, motor development games, rattles and mobiles.

It is better to check with the management of the orphanage in advance what things are needed. This way you can be sure that your actions will really be useful.

To help children and adolescents, you can become a social volunteer. These people undergo training, attend trainings and become mentors for orphans, older brothers and sisters, and tutors in school subjects. In this way, those who wish to help orphans acquire the necessary skills and get an idea of adulthood.

You can become a mentor for a teenager from an orphanage. A meaningful adult to help him prepare for an independent life. If you feel that you are not yet ready to join the life of a particular teenager, you can take part in a social adaptation program as a volunteer. For example, to conduct an interesting master class for the children, go to the store together and teach them how to choose products, transfer skills that will help them in an independent life.

Anastasia Sorokina Head of the Mentors charitable program of the Arithmetic of Good Foundation

If you want to become a mentor, you will have to prepare certificates of no criminal record, infections and neuropsychiatric diseases. Many are eliminated precisely at the stage of collecting documents, but in vain: mentoring is much more necessary for children than gifts.

Families at risk of losing a child

These are families that are on the verge of abandoning a child due to material and moral condition or housing conditions. Most often these are single mothers or graduates of orphanages who cannot count on the help of relatives.

In addition to financial assistance, you can offer to find cheap rental housing, a suitable vacancy in the company of a friend, help with repairs or donate unnecessary but suitable clothing, equipment and other things: the same hygiene products, cosmetics, household chemicals and baby food.

You can find those who may need your help in centers for the prevention of social orphanhood, on the websites of foundations and simply in groups on social networks.

Adults who find themselves in a difficult life situation

People tend to help children and animals more than adults. There is a stereotype that adults are able to take care of themselves, and some foundations even have age requirements for those who ask to help open a collection. However, adults can suddenly become unemployed or homeless, become seriously ill, or be injured. And they need help too.

A person going through a crisis can be rescued not only by money. Help to find a job, inexpensive housing, provide warm clothes or provide moral support. To help the homeless, you can join the city's volunteer movement, distributing warm clothes, shoes, personal hygiene items, hot food, as well as education in social services and shelters.

Children with serious illnesses

Parents of seriously ill children turn to funds, which collect incredibly huge sums for treatment. But, in addition to money, the children and their parents will need other help as well.

Children literally live in hospitals, outpatient apartments (special rented housing for visiting patients), or worse, bedridden. Therefore, many foundations invite volunteers who can spend time with those undergoing treatment, do homework together, get creative and just be a friend when there are only doctors and medicines around.

If you are not very social and want to help, there are other options. First, it is donated blood, which is almost always needed and not only for children. Secondly, parents and relatives of young patients often spend a lot of time, effort and money on taking care of the child and his treatment, so they themselves may not have enough basic things. You just need to ask.

Nursing homes and lonely seniors

Grandparents need communication, attention, interesting leisure and celebration. Without connections with the outside world, even in the company of each other, elderly people become apathetic, begin to yearn and fade away.

Volunteers come to the rescue and organize trips to boarding houses. For example, one of the largest organizations in Russia dealing with this problem is the Old Age in Joy Foundation. Teams of volunteers gather in different cities every week. Creative people, photographers, drivers who can help with the car, and just sociable and positive people are always waiting there. Hairdressers and manicurists will delight grandmothers.

If you do not want or cannot participate in the trips, you can contact the organizers and contribute in the form of sweets, personal hygiene items, and decor to make the rooms more comfortable.

There are also lonely elderly people who live in their apartments. But here, too, it is better to join a volunteer movement or foundation, even if you want to visit a neighbor alone. This will protect you from possible hostility from the elderly person's relatives and suspicions of fraud.

Animal shelters and overexposure groups

Shelters always need people who can walk, play with animals, train and care for them. Some institutions have a weekend host program: you can feel like the owner of a furry friend for a while.

We are always glad to see people who are ready to take animals by car to a clinic or to a new owner. You can also take part in the collection of things necessary for shelter and overexposure: food, medicines, toys, beds. Old bedding, mattresses, towels, building materials can also come in handy.

Help groups always need responsible people who are ready to provide the animal with at least temporary housing. Even just taking your pet to the veterinarian in your free time is already essential. But be prepared for open communication: volunteers are very kind to their wards and are responsible in choosing owners and assistants.

Informational help is always appreciated: the more people you attract to the group, the better. You can also take beautiful pictures of animals: thanks to them, the new owner will be able to spot the pet and take it home.

Nature and ecology

In addition to cleaning the area and sorting waste, you can join an organization as a volunteer. You will be offered a variety of tasks: educate the residents of your city, organize actions and rallies, communicate with the state, if you suddenly decide to write a collective letter to create bicycle parking near your home or some public place. Doing all this with the help of a charitable organization is much easier and more productive. Find out who needs help in different cities with the help of Greenpeace.

Search and rescue teams and services

The largest non-profit association of volunteers in search of missing persons is the search and rescue squad "Lisa Alert". It consists of groups of volunteers who go out in search of people in different parts of Russia.

The squad does not accept monetary donations, but always needs responsible people, as well as equipment, camping furniture and equipment.

There are two things to keep in mind when planning to become a volunteer. First, only physically and psychologically prepared people participate in active searches. Secondly, there are other types of help: you can distribute information on the Internet and on paper, print orientations, call hospitals, repair equipment, check images from drones.

What professional help can be provided

A nonprofit organization or charitable foundation can benefit from your knowledge and skills.

People who have some kind of applied skill can provide invaluable help: they do what they can. The photographer takes beautiful pictures of events, children or animals for free, the artist helps to decorate the room beautifully. Or a person can simply provide all possible help: repair a fence, paint a bench, lay tiles, and the like.

Elena Turysheva Director of the Vostochny Bank Charitable Foundation

There is the concept of pro bono (from the Latin pro bono publico - "for the public good"), which implies the provision of professional services on a free basis. This volunteering is not for everyone. You must be competent in your field and it is desirable to have documentary evidence of your qualifications. You can help individually, on behalf of the company where you work, or by joining a community of professional volunteers.

The following pro bono help is often requested:

• legal and tax advice;
• financial advice;
• translations of texts, documents;
• technical support of the site;
• promotion of the site and groups in social networks;
• PR and communications;
• professional trainings;
• psychological support;
• hairdressing services;
• transportation of goods and documents;
• organization of events.

Important areas are legal, financial advice and accounting.

Every fund manager always keeps in mind: to give away for administrative expenses means to take away from the charges. Nevertheless, the fund needs to keep accounting and receive legal advice. There are volunteers who do bookkeeping for free or help with paperwork, keep records of personnel. From the outside it seems that it is boring, there is no heroism, but the salary of an accountant with taxes is equal to a month's rehabilitation course for a small child with cerebral palsy, for example. Therefore, in fact, this is a very, very big help.

Alexandra Slavyanskaya General Director of the Interdisciplinary Rehabilitation Center

Remember, donating money is far from the only way to do a good deed. Your skills, your conscious desire to help and personal participation in the fate of other people can bring much more benefit.