This year, over 100,000 boys and girls received their New Year presents from Rinat Akhmetov. The largest-scale tradition of kindness and personal involvement of Rinat Akhmetov in the lives of children began on 16 November 2001. It was the first occasion for Rinat Akhmetov to meet orphanage students and see how they were waiting for a miracle.
“Helping children lies at the root of my charity. Helping orphan kids gave start to my Foundation more than 20 years ago. It grew into a longstanding system work focused on caring for the health and development of hundreds of thousands of children, especially those who are deprived of parental love and care. For me, there is no such thing as other people’s misfortune or other people’s children; this is why for many years I’ve been helping those who need help most of all – the youngest and least protected”, said the initiator and the founder of Rinat Akhmetov Foundation.
Over the last 14 years alone, about 1,000,000 children received gifts and presents from the most well-known charity giver in Ukraine.
Spirit of the New Year event for children
This year, Mariupol became the place where the children’s wishes would come true. During a couple of hours, children had a chance to get immersed into the fabulous atmosphere of the New Year’s celebration filled with the extraordinary New Year’ Eve ball, dancing, treats and lovely presents.
“The focus of Rinat Akhmetov To Children campaign is on children who are deprived of parental care. It is very important to help them discover their capabilities and help them believe that they can achieve their goals and change the world for the better”, said Irina Bazhan, chief program director of Rinat Akhmetov Foundation.
For the celebration to become a true New Year’s Eve, the children not only decorated the location with their hand-made Christmas decorations, but also filled it with their smiles and good mood. Fascinating quests, master classes and interactive performances for the little ones were a pleasant surprise for many children.
Helping children is a basis of charity
The unfailing tradition of the campaign is greeting orphanage students, foster kids and young participants of the Foundation programs and projects. One of the first families to share the New Year atmosphere with Rinat Akhmetov Foundation this year was the Molyars family. For almost 10 years, Andrei and Natalia Molyar have been changing the lives of children, giving them warmth and love, and creating family traditions that will stay with the children for life.
“The Rinat Akhmetov Foundation greets us every New Year, and we appreciate it. You just need to see the eyes of the children receiving the presents. What can be better than the children when they are happy and smiling. We are very grateful to the Rinat Akhmetov Foundation for everything”, said Natalia Molyar.
The Osmanovs family was not forgotten either. Not only did they receive the presents, but they also prepared an incredible surprise for the Foundation. The family handmade a beautiful rose, a symbol of Donetsk. This touching present will become a part of the unique Civilian Voices Museum of the Rinat Akhmetov Foundation.
This year, as part of the campaign, a special present was given to the kids from the Staronikolayevskiy education and training centre (Donetsk region). The little ones were showered with presents, which included furniture for the play area like a play doctor set and a play kitchen set for little cooks. The kids also received toy sets: a toy car and garage set for car fans, and a block set and wooden house models for the little builders. And of course, tasty gifts!
“Many thanks to Rinat Akhmetov Foundation for such a pleasant New Year’s Eve surprise. It was a great joy for the children”, thanked the director of the centre Inna Mih.
The largest-scale motivational online lesson for teenagers from all over Ukraine
Rinat Akhmetov To Children campaign is not only about fun and presents but also about something useful for children. The Foundation organized a unique career guiding event – an interactive online lesson “Your Superprofession” as part of “Rinat Akhmetov To Children. Your Superpower” project. It was attended by schoolchildren of 8-11 grades and teenagers from orphanage schools and foster homes from all over Ukraine.
“The first motivational career guiding meetings as part of the “Rinat Akhmetov To Children” Campaign were held in December 2018. Back then, the students of orphanage schools in Donetsk region would learn how to discover their talents, receive knowledge on how to choose a profession, take career guidance tests and try themselves in popular and demanded professions. The Foundation’s ambassadors, well-known TV program hosts, helped them in this. As of today, they have already held 41 motivational meetings in nine orphanage schools in Donetsk region. Those meetings were attended by over 1,000 teenagers”, said Oksana Ischuk, the project director of Rinat Akhmetov Foundation.
The guest hosts of the online lesson “Rinat Akhmetov To Children. Your Superprofession” were the show stars of Ukraine TV channel Lilia Rebrik and Gregory German. During the online lesson, teenagers not only met popular and well-known representatives of popular professions, but also learned what needs to be done and which professions to choose to maximize their talents, unleash their potential and become successful. During the lesson, a contest was held for the best question from the audience to the experts. Its winner was Daniil Zhigailo from Konstantinovka (Donetsk region), who will receive a valuable prize from the Foundation – a modern tablet.
“Last year, Rinat Akhmetov Foundation created the educational series “Your Superprofession” as part of the “Rinat Akhmetov To Children. Your Superpower” project. In fact, the series is a new remote format of the project, which is primarily aimed at teenagers, who need to put a lot of effort to realize their potential in the professional life.
“The first season of the series not only had a huge impact, but also got more than a million views. This year, during the online lesson, the next season of the educational series was announced. The new season will cover such demanded professions like a storyteller, presenter/interviewer, photo/video editor”, commented Oksana Ischuk.
Vladislav Kharkivsky, a graduate of Alekseievo-Druzhkovka specialized school #13 and a participant of “Rinat Akhmetov To Children. Your Superpower” project took part in the online lesson, where he shared his own experience in choosing his profession and encouraged the participants to pursue their goals. A very pleasant surprise for teenagers was a video message from world-famous football stars, FC Shakhtar players Andriy Pyatov and Anatoly Trubin, and a singer Alina Pash. They showed by their own example that it is absolutely possible to achieve the goals.
More than 5,000 users watched the lesson live. Thus, the motivational online lesson “Your Superprofession” has become the most popular one and set a national record in Ukraine.
Rinat Akhmetov To Children campaign is a personal initiative of Rinat Akhmetov. This tradition has been going on for more than 20 years. Over the years, the format of the campaign has changed, but the goal and philosophy of giving warmth and care to children have remained unchanged.