Following the tightening of laws in Penza, a program that helped victims of Nazism was shut down. It involved 1500 elderly people aged 80+.
Director of the charitable organization "Civil Union"* Oleg Sharipkov announced the closure of the "Children of War" program, which had been running for 10 years with grants from the German foundation "Remembrance. Responsibility. Future." It covered people who lost their parents during World War II, lived in occupied territories, or participated in forced labor.
“We worked with those old people who essentially had no childhood,” Oleg Sharipkov explained to NeMoskva. — We searched for them ourselves. In 2013, we started with a group of 10 people, and now there are more than 1500.
Every year, the German foundation allocated 20 euros. With this money, the "Civic Union"* organized meetings where seniors socialized, listened to lectures, drew, prepared theatrical skits, and played chess. Part of the funds went toward excursions and taxis for participants with limited mobility.
“When we first started, these were ordinary grandmothers who didn’t spend money on themselves, but saved it for a rainy day,” recalls Sharipkov. — And then many learned. They started organizing group trips to Kazan, Moscow, and St. Petersburg. Some help environmentalists, plant trees and clean up trash, others sing in a choir.
German grants were one of the reasons why the Civil Union Foundation* was placed on the register of foreign agents in 2019. But the project worked.
"However, State Duma deputies have now banned legal entities from interacting with foreign NGOs not registered in the Ministry of Justice's special registry. Therefore, collaborating with a German organization could result in criminal prosecution for us," Sharipov explained the reasons for the closure of the Children of War program. We're currently deciding what to do with the participants. We can't just tell them, "Everyone's free, let's go home."
Oleg Sharipkov, who turns 55 on August 11, is already proposed Send gifts to your subscribers to the new organization "People. Ideas," which will take care of "Children of War."
Photo: penzafond.ru
