A historic amount was donated to “Save the Children”: a Lithuanian businessman | Life

In terms of generosity to strangers, countries that are not characterized by economic well-being are in the lead

“The culture of philanthropy is a form of citizenship. The stronger the civil society, the stronger the community spirit, the more popular the culture of philanthropy. This is also shown by the “World Giving Index”, which is often ranked first by countries that are not characterized by economic well-being”, says Prof. Dr. Egle Vaidelytė.

The latest ranking of the World Giving Index, which ranks countries based on their population’s involvement in various charitable activities, puts Indonesia first, followed by Ukraine, Kenya and Liberia, and only the United States in fifth place. In this index, Lithuania ranks only 132nd out of 142 and is distinguished as one of the countries that falls into the bottom ten of the index according to one of the evaluation criteria – help to strangers.

“Happiness does not depend on the size of the sacrifice. Whether we donate 10 euros or thousands – we become happier in the same way. To experience this feeling of happiness, it is not even necessary to have money – it is enough to do a good job and, for example, to pick up garbage not in your yard, but on the street. Similarly, it feels good to miss a car in traffic, even though it’s not our fault. If earlier such an act seemed strange, incomprehensible, now it is part of the culture. In the same way, support and help to others should become a normal thing, part of the culture”, says businessman Arnas Jurskis, whose company he manages has been supporting the organization “Save the Children” without interruption for 15 years.

Donations are motivated by personal experiences

“I grew up in a poor family. When she managed to buy bananas, my mother would say that she did not like them, so that we children would have some. We also shared a strip of chewing gum between the four of us. I collected bottles in Vingios and in the park near Neris, and that’s how I earned my first money. I got lucky. I feel gratitude and want to give back,” says A. Jurskis. According to him, just as a golden bridle does not make a horse better, money does not make a person happier. – “Donating gives me the feeling that I am rich, that I have something to share. And I measure success not by how much I earn, but by how much I give. You are as rich as you can give.”

“In practice, it very often happens that the desire to help projects in one way or another is related to personal experience. People with these motives support projects for which they feel sentiments related to childhood experiences, such as giving children opportunities that they could not have had in childhood, but which were important. Very often, scholarships for talented children are established by people who could not nurture their talents in childhood and so on,” explains prof. Dr. Egle Vaidelytė.

In order for the culture of philanthropy to strengthen in Lithuania, education and good examples are needed

E. Vaidelytė, who defended her PhD thesis on the topic of philanthropy, notices that in Lithuania the terms “charity” and “philanthropy” are often mixed up – they are often used in confusing contexts due to the low popularity and familiarity of the concept of “philanthropy”. “In the US, philanthropy is an everyday concept, widely used and perceived as a modern, positive phenomenon, while charity is understood as an old-fashioned variant of it.

Meanwhile, in Britain, it is charity that is identified with positive, communal activities, and philanthropy is associated with snobbery. Perhaps because of these European traditions, the concept of philanthropy is unpopular in Lithuania, it is not even used in the legal framework and rarely in public discourse,” the professor notes. According to her, education and publicity of good examples are needed so that the culture of philanthropy in Lithuania becomes stronger and more popular, and publicly visible examples can encourage people to donate and thus identify with a good example.

“People often start donating when something bad happens in life – relatives get sick, some tragedy happens. You shouldn’t wait for something to happen. You need to help, make others happy and be happy yourself now. Everyone who is lucky should give back. Lucky, earned it all yourself? Even so, a girl born into a large family who lives in a one-room apartment and is cared for by a single mother is less fortunate. Her mother had no way to earn. And whether her daughter will have such an opportunity depends only on our behavior and help,” says Arnas Jurskis.

The nut and dried fruit supply company founded and managed by an entrepreneur has been consistently supporting the public organization “Save the Children” for more than 15 years. To date, the company has already donated 308 thousand to the organization protecting children’s rights. euros.

For them, “Save the Children” repaired several houses of foster families, improved the conditions of day care centers, organized educational activities and entertainment for children. The managers and employees of the company have repeatedly visited children’s day care centers themselves, last year they repaired the house of a grandmother raising eight grandchildren with her own hands after the death of her son. This year, a new family is waiting for their hardworking hands and support.

This year, the company also became the main sponsor of the traditional “Save the Children” support concert. More recently, 127 thousand were allocated to the organization. EUR will be used for the most urgent and greatest needs of children and their families, maintenance of children’s day centers and financing of activities in them.