Volunteer Community

For two decades she lived on the street, took on any job, literally fought for survival. Recently they helped her find a place in a social home. And then the Rus food bank began supporting my grandmother: volunteers bring food and essentials.

Their main entertainment and only connection with the world is an old radio, which the grandmothers listen to almost constantly. Alas, they have no relatives and friends left. Both women have been disabled since childhood. Olga sees practically nothing due to cataracts, and Irina has difficulty walking due to a serious illness in her legs. Grandmothers cannot leave the house to buy food: they have to wait for food bank volunteers. Grandmothers’ pensions are not always enough even for food and medicine. And you also need to make repairs in the old Khrushchev house: either the tap will leak, or the stove will break.

Grandmother lives alone in an old wooden house. Water and toilet are outside. She can no longer walk well and has problems with her eyesight. Sometimes she forgets that she is left alone and, out of habit, talks in a low voice to her children. In 2020, Lydia Ilyinichna’s daughter and son died. Over the course of 83 years, she suffered so many trials, so much grief that another person would have gone crazy. But our Lydia Ilyinichna tries to smile when we meet. Volunteers from the Rus food bank are helping the grandmother. There is no money for groceries, so we need to help. This is how milk, cereals, tea, and canned food appear in Grandma Lida’s house.

Together with her husband she is raising six children. Four of our own and two adopted. In 2022, there was a fire in the house, all things and documents were burned. The youngest son died in the fire. Two more boys suffered severe burns to their hands. We regularly help the family with food and essential goods - this way Venus can save on going to the store and save more money to buy necessary things and building materials.

Natalya is visually disabled since childhood. She is raising three children alone.

The youngest daughter also has vision problems. The benefits are barely enough to afford the necessary medications. The old village house is in disrepair, the roof is falling in, there are cracks in the stove. There is no gas or sewerage in the house. For a family, food packages from a food bank are an opportunity to save money on a trip to the store and spend it on utilities, repairs, tuition or medicine. At first glance, this is quite a bit, but for some it means confidence that tomorrow there will also be lunch.

Nikolai and his daughter fled from the fighting and moved to Omsk. She is raising her daughter alone. Now he is trying to make repairs in his old apartment, find a job and complete the necessary documents. Nikolay works part-time in construction and finishing. There is not always enough money for food. When father and daughter spend a rare day off together, the troubles go away for a while. It seems that you can cope with any difficulties, overcome any troubles. While eating they only talk about good things. And the Rus food bank ensures that the family always has food on the table.