I am the author of the Goodacity blog, a journalist, and a translator. For 16 years, I have worked in professional journalism, contributing to regional and national publications, both in print and online media. I have written reports, conducted interviews, reviews, articles on cultural, social, and charitable topics, as well as materials in the style of "solution journalism" and communication materials.
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I am a manager of cultural affairs and a project manager with over 14 years of experience at United Thinkers. I have participated in the organization of numerous successful social and charitable projects and have implemented informational campaigns and communication cases.
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Ordinary people create warmth
Do you want to learn how ordinary people can make others warm and snug? Our powers are endless, especially when it is all about helping those who need them. You, too, can walk the same path and hold on to those feelings forever.
Start
Comfort is different for all of us. We are so used to certain things that we simply don’t pay much attention to the basics. Instead, we go through our routines, not noticing the things that are commonplace for us.
For example, we do not need to heat water as we have a hot water supply, and a washing machine can easily wash our clothes or linens. We have heating, so we don’t need to stock up on coal or firewood, and fresh food in the cities is usually within walking distance.
It all may seem perfectly normal for the modern world, and you may think that even if some people need those things that are so common for us, there should be very few of them. But unfortunately, the reality is quite different. We close our eyes and ears passing by it, we pretend to know nothing, and still, for many families, it is as usual to buy coal or firewood before the cold season as it is to have coffee in some nice place for us.
Step 1. The idea
One of our volunteers told us of the family of a young boy Maksym and his retired grandparents, who needed a hot water supply badly. The winter was coming, so there were no doubts that it was a good idea.
Here is what the boy’s grandmother told us:
“In the days of collective farms, we had five two-storied apartment buildings constructed here. Initially, they had been intended for the victims of the Chornobyl catastrophe, but later, those people got housing in Poltava, Ukraine, and the apartments were given to the workers. We still call them Chornobyl apartments.
For a long time, the heating and hot water supply of these houses, as well as a school and a kindergarten, were provided by a boiler house. But when the collective farms were over, the well-being of our homes fell on our shoulders. Unfortunately, we did not have enough money for gas heating, so we installed a firewood heating system. However, we failed to connect a water heater to it and were left without a hot water supply for years”.
Step 2. The route
Our volunteers chose a water heater, a mixer tap, and some pipes and found a plumber to install them.
The task was to deliver the equipment, and the activists were able to make that happen. But the paths of good are not always easy and calm. In this case, our volunteers made every effort to succeed.
Getting from one place to another comfortably is also quite important, especially when it’s cold outside and the roads are covered with ice.
Step 3. The Initiative
Entering the village, our volunteers understood they were lucky to have made it. The head of the public organization, Poltava region’s Tree of Live (“Derevo zhyttia Poltavshchyny”), Ukraine, offered a special project to the local grocery and school kids. Purchasing beverages for the children herself, she offered free drinks on the condition that those who received them were to sprinkle the road with ash. People in this village have firewood heating, so every household has plenty of ash for the task.
This initiative is not only about safety and comfort. It is also about taking responsibility, about humanity, and the uniting force of kindness.
Thank you for your good deed!
Step 4. The water heater
So, the long-awaited water heater finally arrived to the family that needed it so much. The volunteers delivered the equipment and arranged its installation. Soon this home would have warm water. It was especially significant as the winter had just begun, and severe frosts were yet ahead.
The specialist started laying pipes, installing a mixer tap, and connecting the water heater. After a few hours of work, the water began to heat up.
The good lives in our hearts; we just have to let it show itself, show its strength.
Thank you for your participation and your hard work!
Finish
Time to sum it up
You don’t have to be a super marketologist, or a super generator of ideas. A simple desire to do good deeds is enough, and there will always be a cause for it. You don’t have to wait for an occasion to show your sincere nature.
It doesn’t matter where and how we live, work, or our troubles. You can almost always find a chance to do something good just by looking around you.
Sometimes it can seem that helping one person is not enough, or there should be something more to do.
Weighing the results
We all love pampering ourselves, we appreciate nice things of good quality, and it’s completely understandable. But perhaps while buying something you don’t really need, you could replace the thought:
“What if I buy some joy for a family in need?”
Weigh it.
On the one hand – expensive new brand-name sunglasses you don’t actually need.
On the other hand – a hot water supply for an entire family and many good emotions—the path of good that leaves its mark on the hearts of everyone involved.
You can afford yourself the luxury of goodness!
Doing good is very simple!
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