If there is a good side to this pandemic, it’s charitable efforts: the generosity of performers, arts figures and organizers who give their time to raise funds for the neediest, and the generosity of people at home who tap into their bank accounts to support these projects.
Today from 2 p.m. to 8 p.m. Moscow time, the Russian Jewish Congress is holding an online marathon to raise 10 million rubles for the support of people most at risk and most in need of assistance today: elderly people and disadvantaged children. The RJC is also using its donated funds to purchase and deliver food boxes to older people living alone as well as providing social workers with all the protective gear and disinfectants they need to continue to work safely and provide assistance.
Yuri Kanner, the president of the RJC and the initiator of the event, said that “For many years we have supported the work of home care assistants and social workers who look after older people with health problems living alone and provide assistance to needy families with children with disabilities.”
“We’ve been able to provide children in underprivileged families with food, seasonal clothing, and school supplies,” Kanner said. “During this pandemic, we need help to continue our work.”
Help is already on its way: among the stars and cultural figures you can listen to and watch on Tuesday are the musicians Andrei Makarevich, Alexei Kortnev, and Valery Syutkin. Also on hand will be Dr. Denis Protsenko, the head of the main hospital caring for people with Covid who has just recovered himself from the virus, television culture reporter Vladislav Flyarkovsky, Pushkin Museum of Fine Arts director Marina Loshak, and many more. Their performances, talks, and comments will be interspersed with stories from the front lines — people who are counting on aid and the care workers who provide it.
You can see it all here.
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