Translated material
Pupils of Perm orphanages asked for things from Gucci and Nike for the New Year
The head of the Cradle of Hope charity foundation, Elena Kotova, said on Facebook that pupils of Perm orphanages are asking for things from Gucci, Nike, equipment from JBL and other famous brands for the New Year, which left her “confused.”
Kotova published screenshots of letters from children in orphanages and emphasized that the price of one of the gifts, judging by information on the Internet, starts at 23 thousand rubles.
In a conversation with 59.ru, the founder of the Dedmorozim charity foundation, Dmitry Zhebelev, said that the letters mentioned by Kotova were published on the Dedmorozim website, and noted that in reality children do not often ask for expensive gifts.
“A child from an orphanage is provided with everything necessary: food, clothing, and receives gifts for the New Year. But he does not choose all these things, what they should be, other people determine for him. We strive to ensure that on New Year’s Day every child from the orphanage, as well as those who live in the family, can make a wish and have it come true,” said Zhebelev.
According to the founder of the fund, about 10% of the total number of expensive “orders” are mainly requested by teenagers.
“Usually they hang on the site for a long time, because their execution requires more funds than others,” Zhebelev added. “Therefore, someone who does not visit the site often may think that there are a lot of similar letters.” He also said that the foundation’s employees are trying to help children write letters and explain which things are too expensive in order to foster respect for the work of people who can buy such gifts.
In December, the association of non-profit organizations “All Together”spoke out against the format of the “Become Santa Claus!” campaign. from the Ministry of Education of the Moscow Region, during which people can donate a New Year's gift to one of 15 orphanages. As the association clarified in a conversation with “Such Affairs”, such a format aggravates the problem of socialization of orphans and creates in society only the illusion of solving the problem of orphanhood.
“Things like this” have repeatedly talked about why pre-New Year charity events with mass sending of gifts to orphanages are bad. Inept volunteering and misunderstood kindness cause great harm to children. Experts compare “showering children with gifts” to bullying them.