Actual topic. Become a friend of Mercy

Since the founding of the Society of Friends of Charity, we have regularly received your donations and good wishes, and the number of true friends has been growing. Questions come and, apparently, will come. We publish a short "catechism" of the friends of mercy, what is called on the Internet FAQ - Frequently Asked Questions, frequently asked questions (English):

Question: When and why did the Friends of Charity Society appear?
Answer: The Society of Mercy Friends anti-crisis program was launched by the Moscow Commission for Church Social Activities at the end of November 2008 in order to preserve and support the social projects of the Church during the crisis.

Question: Tell us, what specific social projects do you support?
Answer: There are 9 projects on the balance sheet of the Moscow Commission for Church Social Activities:
Almshouse. 11 grandmothers and one grandfather live in it, almost all of them are bedridden, all of them were abandoned by their relatives. They are looked after by 10 sisters.
St. Demetrius and St. Sophia orphanages, where 36 children permanently live.
Patronage Service. Cares for 47 lonely old and disabled people.
Bus "Mercy". Every winter night, the bus saves 10 to 30 homeless people from freezing.
Assistance to the homeless in Moscow hospitals. Employees of the service restore documents to the homeless, arrange them in shelters, contact relatives, and send them home. We help about 1500 homeless people a year.
Disabled children in 2 Moscow boarding schools and disabled adults in one psycho-neurological boarding school. In three boarding schools, the sisters of mercy are constantly working with the most difficult patients.
Abandoned patients in the First City and the Sklifosovsky Research Institute. 50 caregivers turn over, feed, treat bedsores for abandoned patients in these hospitals.
Dimitrievskaya school. 137 children study in it, a quarter of them are from orphanages, and almost all the rest are from large families.

Question: What is a society of friends of mercy?
Answer: Friends of Charity are those who are ready to give away at least 1% of their monthly income so that single grandmothers are not left without patronage care, Orthodox sisters of mercy continue to visit boarding schools for disabled children, orphans would have a home, and the homeless have a chance to return to a normal life.

Question: Who held these projects before? What changed?
Answer: Until now, the social initiatives of the Orthodox Church were supported by large benefactors, but now, because of the crisis, they have been forced to cut their expenses three times. But it is impossible, until better times, to reduce the grandmothers in the church almshouse and the children in orphanage.

Question: Can someone vouch for you?
Answer: Our guarantors: Nikolai Burlyaev - actor and film director, Yuri Kublanovskiy - poet, Anatoly Kucherena - lawyer, Maria Slobodskaya, A member Public Chamber Russian Federation, Natalya Leonidovna Trauberg - writer, translator, Vitaly Tretyakov - Dean of the Higher School of Television of Moscow State University, Chief Editor magazine "Political Class", Vladimir Fedoseev - Chief Conductor of the Grand Symphony Orchestra. Tchaikovsky.

Q: I want to join ODM, how do I do it?
Answer: If you want to become a friend of mercy, please contact us at [email protected] or [email protected] and fill out the form on the site

Question: I don't want to give money every month, I want it once - will I become a friend of mercy in this case?
Answer: Yes, of course. A friend of mercy is one who has donated any amount at least once to the projects of the Society of Friends of Charity. True friend charity - one who is ready to donate every month 1% of their income, during the year.

Question: How can I transfer money to you?
Answer: There are several ways:
Ruble account:
Recipient: NGO "Mercy" Donskoy otd. No. 7813/01647, Bank: Sberbank of Russia OJSC, TIN 7706409126, KPP 770601001, account 40703810238110001411, account 30101810400000000225, BIC 044525225
In the column for the purpose of payment, please indicate: Donation for statutory activities. The Friends of Mercy Program.

Web money:
R367829203282 ruble (can be topped up through ELEKSNET terminals)
Z244707462217 dollar
E211826038560 Euro

Bring and put in a special mug for donations to the church of St. blgv. king Dimitri (Moscow, Leninsky Prospekt, d. 8 cor. 12).

Question: I live abroad, how can I transfer money to you?
Answer: Our currency details:
US Dollars: Beneficiary: ROO “Miloserdie”, Account 40703840700101002900 , Beneficiary's bank: Moscow Industrial Bank, Octyabrsky Branch, Bank address: 28 Leninsky av., 119071 Moscow, Russia, SWIFT MINNRUM1010, Correspondence bank: The Bank of New York, Bank address : One Wall Street, New York 10286 NY USA, Account 890-0086-009, SWIFT IRVT US 3N

Euro: Beneficiary: ROO “Miloserdie”, Account 40703978300101002900, Beneficiary's bank: Moscow Industrial Bank, Octyabrsky Branch, Bank address: 28 Leninsky av., 119071 Moscow, Russia, SWIFT MINNRUM1010, Correspondence bank: Deutsche Bank AG, Bank address: Taunusanlage 12 , D–60325 Frankfurt am Main, Germany, Account 947 2911 1000, SWIFT DEUT DE FF

In the column for the purpose of payment, please indicate: Donation for statutory activities. The Friends of Mercy Program.

Question: How to hang your banner on the website of the company I work for?
Answer: The banner code is on the page of the Society of Friends of Mercy www.sos-miloserdie.ru

Year of the Volunteer in Russia
By decree of the President of the Russian Federation Vladimir Putin, 2018 was declared the Year of the Volunteer (Volunteer) in Russia
The President announced this at the All-Russian Forum of Volunteers held in Moscow on December 6, 2017, during the award ceremony for the Volunteer of Russia of the Year: “This will be your year. The year of all citizens of the country, whose will, energy, generosity are the main strength of Russia"
The Year of the Volunteer is designed to increase the civic activity of all Russians, popularize charity, and raise the prestige of volunteer work in all areas.

Memorable dates: December 2

On this day, two years ago, he passed away Vladimir Konstantinovich Babikov- Chairman of the society of wheelchair users "Chance" in Sayansk. Our friend, helper, inspirer. Cheerful, purposeful, generous ... A man who left behind good deeds and a good memory. The lift in the temple, a special vehicle for wheelchair users, a boccia area, the victories of the OIK "Chance" in contests and competitions and much more - all this is largely the merit of Vladimir Konstantinovich Babikov. His strength, energy, health and nerves.
Vladimir Konstantinovich is remembered very often in the temple: the disabled and the elderly who use the lift; the guys are “wheelchair users” from the psycho-neurological boarding school and orphanage who come to the temple in a special vehicle with a wheelchair lift; our friends from the OIC "Chance", to whom Vladimir Konstantinovich set the correct life trajectory.

Vladimir Konstantinovich, we remember you!

Half an hour for mercy...

Service "Mercy" has repeatedly appealed to you to join our volunteer ranks!

We really lack the “doers” - people who could help deliver food, medicine, books for the wards to their homes, take out the junk, put things in order in the clothing warehouse, etc.

The same parishioners who already help in the church, in the garden and in the garden respond. By the way, most of them also have families, dachas and jobs.

I would like to remind you, friends, that the meaning of the work of the service "Mercy" is not to raise funds, not to hold actions, not in events and parish holidays, but above all in multiplying love! The one that the Savior spoke of. In uniting people around goodness. And all of the above are the fruits of love and kindness.

I urge you, friends, to find 30 minutes a week for good deeds! Do not rush to leave the temple, ask if someone needs your help?

You can get a “ticket to a good deed” from the coordinator of the Victoria service after Sunday service or at any other time.

Telephone help service "Mercy" of the Church of the Annunciation in Sayansk - 8 950 111 05 63

Mercy is our common cause

Sunday spent in the Church of the Annunciation in Sayansk is always a joyful event for the pupils of the Sayan Orphanage for Mentally Retarded Children and the Psychoneurological Boarding School in Sayansk. it Sunday service and communion. These are meetings with each other (after all, now the guys live in different boarding schools), with former teachers and educators, with parishioners, among whom the children have old friends. This is a walk around the temple grounds, wonderful at any time of the year.
And more than a dozen kind people help to give this holiday to our wards!
Judge for yourself, friends! A special vehicle with a wheelchair lift is provided by the Shans Society of Wheelchair Users in Sayansk. The driver (volunteer) takes our children on his day off. Funds for gasoline are donated by the Friends of Charity. The staff of the boarding schools help the children get ready (some of them cannot dress themselves and go out in a wheelchair). Some parishioners help lift the guys on the lift to the temple and take off outerwear, others - to put candles, write notes, kiss the icons. And yet - give gifts, attention and affection.
Our guys never stop smiling: they feel so much care, love and participation on this day! And they answer everyone with words of sincere gratitude, fervent prayer, good wishes: "God save you"!

You can help the Orthodox service "Mercy" by transferring money in the most convenient way for you:
Sberbank Visa Classic 4276 1800 1796 7067
Yandex.Money 4100 1370 8061 371
Via QIWI WALLET + 7 914 94 35 235
Mug for donations in the Church of the Annunciation in Sayansk

good memory lives on

A year ago, Vladimir Konstantinovich Babikov, the chairman of the Shans society for wheelchair users in Sayansk, passed away. Gone from life - but not from our memory.
The lift in the temple, the car for the transportation of the disabled, the trips of "wheelchairs" to competitions and nature, meetings in the temple - everything worked out for him.

He generally managed to live for others, to live for wear and tear. He took pity on those who needed help. But he did not feel sorry for himself.
Bound by ailments and limited wheelchair, not having the physical ability to storm the offices of officials, Vladimir Konstantinovich negotiated, knocked out, proved ... He always surprised with his determination, love of life and breadth of soul.

A person about whom it is easy to talk and think joyfully. Man with limitless possibilities. Vladimir Konstantinovich Babikov

More and more Russians are ready to regularly donate money to charity. Only in the Orthodox help service "Mercy" the number of such people has reached 3 thousand people. Every month the friends of mercy donate a total of 2.5-3 million rubles to help those in need.

Experts note that domestic charity is increasingly dependent on small private donations. “For many people, even those with low incomes, it becomes the norm to regularly donate to charity,” said Yulia Danilova, editor-in-chief of the Miloserdie.ru portal. “This not only gives a sense of belonging to a common cause, but also allows you to really help those in need.”

According to the Orthodox help service "Mercy", in less than a year, more than a thousand new donors have become friends of mercy, who every month deduct 1/100 of their income in favor of the wards of the service. Regular support of individuals allows NGOs to provide assistance to those in need, plan their work, purchase necessary medicines, medical equipment, pay salaries social workers, sisters of mercy, psychologists and other specialists.

Friends of mercy become office workers and pensioners, teachers and workers - people with different social status and income levels. 3000th Mercy Friend - English Teacher in general education school, mother of two children Tatyana Peplovskaya. Her son was born disabled, but he managed to do the operation and save his life only in the UK - at the expense of philanthropists. “In England, one gets the impression that 99% of the British are at least thinking about helping their neighbor,” says Tatiana.

Indeed, according to experts, in the West, private charity significantly exceeds corporate charity in terms of its volume. “In Russia, the opposite is true, but, judging by the latest trends, the situation will change,” said Matvey Masaltsev, editor-in-chief of the Philanthropist online magazine.

The largest charitable foundations in our country are corporate. The top five include the V. Potanin Charitable Foundation (last year's budget - $8 million), Oleg Deripaska's Volnoe Delo Foundation ($7 million), Dmitry Zimin's Dynasty Foundation ($5 million), Nikolai's Victoria Children's Fund Tsvetkov (more than 3 million dollars), the Link of Times Foundation by Viktor Vekselberg. For comparison, charitable foundation Bill and Melissa Gates has more than $30 billion in assets. And the largest donation in US history was made by Warren Buffett in 2010 - a multimillionaire donated $ 37 billion to charity.

Nevertheless, the volunteer movement is gaining strength in Russia, private efforts on the ground are becoming more coordinated. The Russian was actively involved in the cause of charity Orthodox Church. The Orthodox help service "Mercy" is one of the most active in Russia. These are 23 social projects, including orphanages, a patronage service, an almshouse, a humanitarian aid center, a help service for the homeless (Mercy bus), a crisis center for helping pregnant women "House for Mom", etc.

The brake on the development of private charity is now the relative underdevelopment of the relevant infrastructure. You can donate money, for example, through the websites of charitable organizations. On the website of the service "Mercy", for example, to do this, just click on the "donate" button and select one of the proposed methods of transferring money. But the most convenient and accessible form of assistance to charitable organizations for private donors - the transfer of funds through payment terminals - does not yet work in Russia. Rosfinmonitoring opposes its development due to fears of using such an opportunity for money laundering or even financing terrorist organizations. Nevertheless, there is a certain microclimate, an information environment that is favorable for private charity. The main thing is that everyone at any moment can become a benefactor, a person who does not remain indifferent when a neighbor needs help.

Archpriest Arkady Shatov, confessor of the “Mercy” service, thanked those present: “Goodness and beauty are eternal phenomena. I am grateful to you for the fact that you are working on the multiplication of good.

The concert was attended by laureates of international competitions: singer Olga Grechko (the best baroque soprano of Russia), organist and pianist Olga Pashchenko, pianist Anna Grishina, cellist Pyotr Kondrashin and artists of the P.I. Tchaikovsky.

According to Tatyana Filippova, senior sister of the Sisterhood of St. Demetrius, the Orthodox service "Mercy" has long-standing ties with the Grand Symphony Orchestra (BSO) and this is not their first joint project. By the way, the chief conductor of the BSO - Vladimir Fedoseev - is one of the guarantors of the Society of Friends of Mercy.

The "Society of Friends of Mercy" was created to help social projects of the Orthodox service "Mercy". Most of them exist at the expense of philanthropists and anonymous donors. The share of the state in their financing is only 11%. Last year, the total amount of donations decreased significantly, largely due to the economic crisis, and in order for the activities of the Orthodox service to continue, it was decided to ask the “friends of mercy” for more systematic help, this was important in order to plan the work social projects. A "Society of Friends of Mercy" was created, whose members donate 1% monthly to social activities.

Concerts of classical music, meetings with celebrities - one of the forms of gratitude of the Orthodox service "Mercy" to those who responded to the call for help. However, perhaps the best reward for program participants is to know that they are really helping someone. They can be convinced of this, as they have the opportunity to meet with the wards of the Orthodox service and follow how donations are spent. At the concert at the Gnessin School, they were able to see and hear some of the wards: before the main program, the girls' choir from the St. Demetrius Orphanage sang several songs for the audience.

Violinist Dmitry Rafaeliants was one of six BSO musicians who took part in the concert. Before speaking to reporters, he expressed confidence in beneficial effect music on people: "Music liberates the hearts, makes them softer, and classical music especially."

It seems that the works of Bach, Schubert, Tchaikovsky, Saint-Saens and Sarasate had just such an effect on the audience. Among the guests of the event were people of all ages and social statuses. If at first it seemed that women predominate, then soon this feeling disappeared. Many came in pairs, even in companies, including young people, moreover, these were not random passers-by. For those who were at the event of the “Mercy” service for the first time, the sisters and their assistants told about her work. A film about social projects supported by Friends of Charity was also shown.

The film touched on the topic of volunteers. Unlike Western countries, volunteer organizations are not very developed in Russia. But to be a volunteer, you don’t need to donate money, it’s enough to devote some personal time to serving people: feed the homeless, help a large family with housework, buy groceries for a disabled person. At the service "Mercy" there is a movement of Orthodox volunteers. In the summer of 2009, volunteers helped to equip a dacha for orphanages and low-income families with many children in the St. Demetrius community. “Not everyone can graduate from the school of sisters of mercy or help the destitute with money, but everyone can donate one hour of personal time a week to serve their neighbors,” the Mercy Orthodox service believes.

You can learn more about the activities of the Orthodox service "Mercy" on the website www.miloserdie.ru, and learn more about the anti-crisis program "Friends of Mercy" at