Children’s Charity Recognizes Local Journalists

By Irina Titova

The St. Petersburg Times

Published: March 6, 2013 (Issue # 1749)

Russian charity foundation Liniya Zhizni (Life Line), which helps children with severe health problems in Russia, has presented awards to representatives of a number of Russian media that are active in covering charity issues in Russia.

Among those honored by Life Line at an event in St. Petersburg last week were representatives from St. Petersburg’s Channel Five; Russian federal news agency RIA Novosti; magazines “Otdokhni’” (Relax) and “TV Park” and the Aeroflot magazine; women’s website Cosmo.ru; and the Ekho Moskvy radio station.

Faina Zakharova, president of Life Line, said that the organization had wanted to thank the mass media for their publicity, without which the effectiveness of their charity efforts would be limited.

For instance, in 2012 Channel Five’s weekly morning program “Utro Dobrykh Del” (Morning of Good Deeds) about children in need helped to raise money for medical treatment for 48 children from around Russia. Channel Five launched the program in cooperation with Life Line.

Representatives of “Utro Dobrykh Del,” which won the TV charity nomination, said they would continue reporting on charity issues in 2013.

At the same time, Zakharova said charity organizations still need more publicity to attract more attention to charity activities and make donating to charity an essential part of life in Russia.

“Our task is to make charity a way of life, just like it is now in England, for instance, where most families allocate part of their family budget for charity. Children in England know from a very young age that it is necessary to help those in need. That’s what we should strive for in Russia as well,” Zakharova said.

The foundation provides assistance to children up to the age of 17 whose life is at risk due to severe illnesses such as congenital heart disorder, arrhythmias, hereditary cerebrovascular disease, hydromeningocele and epilepsy. Life Line pays for high-tech surgery and the purchase of expensive medical equipment, the use of which provides a significant improvement in quality or life or, in some cases, full recovery for the children.

Zakharova said the next large-scale charity event Life Line is to organize will be “Have a Blini, Save a Child’s Life,” to be held during Russia’s Shrovetide observations from March 11 through 17 in Moscow, St. Petersburg, Novosibirsk and Nizhny Novgorod. On those dates a number of restaurants in the aforementioned Russian cities will offer a special “charity blini menu.” People who buy blini from the menu will be able to contribute to the Life Line charity. Detailed information on the restaurants and cafes taking part in the event will be available on the foundation’s website, www.life-line.ru.

Zakharova said the total amount of charity money raised by the foundation to date amounts to more than one billion rubles ($32 million). Thanks to that financial assistance, the foundation has managed to save and rehabilitate more than 5,500 children with severe illnesses.