We wonder what you know about Happy Child‘s office?
These days an office is a place of pride and status, a testing spot for cool design and clever space-saving refinements, a feng shui citadel, and, just possibly, an example of excessive Soviet-style efficiency! Love them or hate them, offices become a source of legends and anecdotes, such as the famous Google offices in Mountain View, California; there is even a genre, “office folklore.” In the 21st century most of us spend the greater part of our waking hours in an office. Whether it’s a good thing or bad is debatable, but from a practical point of view and from the perspective of any businessman, the office is first and foremost an effective tool for conducting business.
We hope that you know our non-profit charity Happy Child by our activities and projects, but if you’ve never visited us, you cannot possibly imagine what our office looks like! Journalists from Inter Channel TV were shocked by what they saw and exclaimed, “You actually work here?!!” Foreigners find this place especially impressive: “Is this an office here? Really?” It’s probably a good thing that no Google employees have ever set foot in here!
We work in an apartment building in the Maliy Rynok (Little Market) district. Ours is a cozy two-room apartment on the fifth floor. There’re always a lot of things happening, folks going and coming, and that annoys our neighbors. The mother of one of our volunteers lent us the flat rent free for six months, provided we pay the utilities. That was three and a half years ago! And for that we are hugely grateful. We’re also grateful to our neighbors for their patience. They are lovely people, and it’s a nice place—but it is not an office, and as a tool for the work of our charitable foundation, it falls far short of our needs.
The office issue is particularly urgent right now: the group’s projects are scaling up; the public’s awareness of our advocacy is increasing, especially among young people, and as a result, we’re able to attract more volunteers; businesses are more willing to cooperate with us; and reorganization of the entire operation is occurring. We could keep on surprising foreign visitors and journalists by serving tea in our tiny kitchen, but, believe us, we’d like to work more efficiently.
You are familiar with the work of our charity, its initiatives and projects. We hope that will be the case in the future and that the office problems will soon be a thing of the past. Please receive our appeal with understanding:
If you are able to help with rent for office space, with office furniture and equipment, we will be very grateful. Together, we are working toward the same goal—a bright future for the children of Zaporozhye. Isn’t this work deserving of the most effective tools?
Thank you!
To find out how you can help us with office expenses, follow this link.
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A few pictures from current “heartquarters” of Happy Child:
Inna Grigoryeva is responsible for accepting and processing requests regarding sick children, organising treatment and fundraising. We wish Inna had less work but, unfortunately, she’s so busy she often has to stay at the “office” till late...
Yulia Akhtman is in charge of organising active holidays for children. The bulk of responsibility for “I want to be…” programme and childrens’ trips lies on these fragile shoulders...
Our hardworking fax machine, which doesn’t have a place of its own worthy of its merits...
The door to the Foundation’s President’s “office” is always open…
How can it not be open when Albert Pavlov (there he is in the background…) shares his “office” with an accountant and an office manager
Meanwhile in the kitchen…
...Volunteers Dima Buryak and Anton Bondarenko are discussing the next children’s charity project...
...and they are very audible to Nadia Mochalova, Foundation’s accountant, the sound travels very well via the hall. But worry not, the financial reports of the Foundation will be spot on! If only someone closed the kitchen door...
This isn’t Happy Child’s interior design quirk but rather a finishing touch for our plead for help with a new office…
Thanks to everyone for what we have managed to achieve within these walls. We hope that greater deeds await us!
