The coordinator of election programs of the NGO Opora Olha Aivazovska remarked that charitable organizations are the peculiarities of the current election campaign: a lot of politicians found charitable projects and give things and money to support certain groups of people, educational and cultural institutions. However, the experts predict that they will not last long.
We were explained in Opora: the majoritarian candidates are not always supported by political parties they often look for other ways to get the electorate’s support. One of the simplest decisions is starting their regional charitable foundation since the charity is respected in our society. As a result, the reports about candidates’ charitable work might have more positive influence than the propaganda of their party.
“Ukrainians do charity as well as people in the West. However, in our country it is not considered something special, so people do not even realize that they are philanthropists,” Lesia YAROSHENKO, coordinator of the information projects of the Ukrainian Charitable Forum told The Day. However, the expert explained that recently in Ukraine political and not public charity has been developing. The problem could be solved if the state gave some encouragement such as benefits or tax remissions. However, they are still not legitimized. Moreover, the new law “On charitable organizations” that is being examined by the Ukrainian President Viktor Yanukovych does not have the points about the exemption from VAT of the goods and services given as charity. The document does not have the article about tax remissions for those who do charity either.
Despite this Lesia Yaroshenko still hopes that the new law will encourage people to do charity more actively. This law provides that the work of charitable organizations will become as transparent as possible. The law reads that the information about the structure of charitable organizations, their incomes and expenditures cannot be considered a trade secret; therefore it should be accessible to everyone.
“Transparency is very important so that people could control charitable organizations and trust them. In Ukraine, just like in Europe and the US, most donors are ordinary people giving small sums of money, but they do great things because a lot of people are involved in it,” the expert explained.
Public activity and helping other people for free have become fashionable in the West: it is considered when entering a university or applying for a job. Those who have been doing charity for a long time say that they not only help others but unite with their sole-mates. Founders of small charitable projects in the West successfully demonstrate examples of public activity and how one person can change something.
“The main thing is not being afraid to start doing something. If there is something that bothers you and you feel that you can influence the situation, do something, meet people, tell them what you are worried about and you will be surprised how many people will want to help you,” Arun Storrs, the American who has founded The Kumari Project to help orphans from Nepal told The Day.
Arun was adopted when she was seven weeks old. When she first came to the orphanage where she had lived, she decided to help children who are not as lucky as she was. Today she lives with her family in the US, but she collects money for food and education for orphans and looks for volunteers ready to go to Nepal and give their time and skills to children from the orphanage.
“A lot depends on relations, but not everything. I meet people and tell them about our project. If it touches them they ask how they can help,” Storrs says. For instance, several days ago a couple of her friends came back from a thirty-day trip in a desert where they told about themselves and the Kumari Project trying to raise money for food for children.
“Books, food and even the desire to teach children a language or help here in the US with logistics – everything is priceless help. In fact, people want to help others much more than it seems at glance,” Storrs summed up.
According to the research held by the Ukrainian Charitable Forum in Ukraine people are more ready to support projects in education, children’s programs, ecology and sports with their money or work and are less willing to contribute into human rights and democratic values protection.
