On November 4, 2024 in Moscow in the Central Exhibition Hall «Manezh» took place the opening of the XX church-social exhibition-forum «Orthodox Russia — to the Day of National Unity». On the first day of the exhibition it was visited by the President of Russia Vladimir Putin and His Holiness Patriarch Kirill of Moscow and All Russia. At the exhibition, they watched a video about the social ministry of the Russian Orthodox Church, which was presented by Apollinaria Starunova, an operating room nurse at the Central Clinical Hospital of St. Alexis, Metropolitan of Moscow.
Apollinaria Starunova.
«Helping the Church — is more than 1,000 years of service. But it is not only history. Today the Church — is one of the largest organizers of social activities in Russia. We have a wide network of help. At many churches there are social support services», — told during the presentation Apollinaria Starunova. She noted that with the blessing of His Holiness Patriarch Kirill, the Church has created a 24-hour social assistance hotline 8 800 70 70 222. This line receives thousands of calls every month. Each call is checked and then help is provided.
Today, the Church has more than 4,500 social projects. Among them are. They are — projects to help the homeless, people with disabilities, addicts, the seriously ill, and families. The Church helps where there is no one else: in small towns and villages. Where help is needed most of all» — emphasized A. Starunova.
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During the presentation it was also noted that today the Church is creating unique projects: the first children's hospice in Russia, the first non-state home for seriously ill children, a rehabilitation center for troubled teens. The Church also launched the first mercy bus in Moscow. St. Alexis Church Hospital is developing palliative care in the regions.
From the first days of the armed conflict, the Russian Orthodox Church has been helping the victims. I myself was in the conflict zone and saw how much our help is needed there. The chief doctor of our St. Alexis Hospital, Alexei Zarov, himself often goes to Donbas, operates, brings doctors and volunteers there, and organizes sisterhoods there. The church hospital opened the first prosthetics center in Donbass. Two mobile hospitals of St. Alexis Hospital are working in the conflict zone. We take the heaviest patients to a hospital in Moscow for treatment and then take them back. Thus, more than 25,000 victims in the conflict zone have already received medical care from the hospital St. Alexis», — said A. Starunova.
More than 280 thousand appeals have been received from victims in nine church help centers in Kursk, Belgorod, Donetsk, Mariupol and other cities of the conflict zone. Every week more than 100 Orthodox volunteers travel to the conflict zone to help in different cities.
A. Starunova also spoke about the help in the conflict zone of volunteer builders, who since March 2023 have been traveling weekly from Moscow to Mariupol and other towns in Donbass. They rebuild the private homes of needy people who cannot repair their homes themselves — the elderly, people with many children, people with disabilities, single women with children. The visits are organized by the Synodal Department for Church Charity and Social Ministry. A total of 1,127 volunteer builders have traveled to the conflict zone since March 2023. They managed to rebuild 310 private houses.
At the exhibition in the Manege, visitors will be able to learn about how the Church helps in the conflict zone: the geography of assistance is presented, the map highlights the main cities where the Church's medical and social assistance is organized. They will familiarize themselves with the main areas of the Church's social work in the conflict zone: social work, repair and construction, hospital ministry, assistance in social institutions. The exhibition also tells about how to join the social assistance, and you can immediately fill out a volunteer questionnaire on special screens or scan a QR code.
Today more than 2500 volunteers have traveled to the conflict zone to help the victims.
More than 2,500 volunteers have already traveled to the conflict zone to help the victims. In Russia the Church has collected, purchased and handed over 3800 tons of humanitarian aid to refugees and affected civilians.
The Church has already collected, purchased and handed over more than 3800 tons of humanitarian aid to refugees and affected civilians.
Another block of the exhibition is devoted to the activities of St. Alexis Hospital, including assistance in the conflict zone, and how to become a medical volunteer and help victims in the cities of Donbass.
Since the spring of 2022, St. Alexis Hospital has been providing medical care to the injured and wounded in the conflict zone. More than 800 patients have been treated in the inpatient department of St. Alexis Hospital, more than 500 injured people have been evacuated by the church hospital from the conflict zone for treatment by its own ambulance. 82 people completed prosthetics at St. Alexis Hospital. The hospital's training center has trained more than 2,100 volunteers to care for the wounded, including 900 in the conflict zone.
The hospital's training center has trained more than 2,100 volunteers, including 900 in the conflict zone.
The Synodal Department for Charity's project «Let's help» on the mirom.help website is also on display. It is an online platform to support Orthodox charity. It was created to help people in need and support Church social initiatives. The platform began its work on May 30, 2023. For 1.5 years, the platform has already helped to implement 121 church social initiatives in different regions and collected 116 million rubles to help people in need. At the exhibition you can familiarize yourself with the projects of the platform «Let's Help», which have already managed to raise funds and watch a video about their work, as well as a video about the platform itself. Also with the help of the interactive stand you can make your photo with the use of elements of the platform's corporate style.
The exhibition-forum «Orthodox Russia — for the Day of National Unity» will be held in the Central Exhibition Hall «Manezh» until November 6.
The exhibition-forum «Orthodox Russia — for the Day of National Unity» will be held in the Central Exhibition Hall «Manezh» until November 6.
News and stories about church social ministry are published in Telegram channel «Church Affairs» and in the groups of the Synodal Department for Charity in VK, OK, on Youtube channel.
.You can help refugees and affected civilians at helpvbede.rf. You can support the church's social projects on the online platform Synodal Department for Charity «Let's Help».
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