The social media project #Potomuchtoludi collected more than 15 million views on social networks during five months from the launch. Our heroes honestly tell why they are engaged in charity and civil activities, what it gives to them. The following heroes have already shared their stories: Vladimir Potanin, Valery Gergiev, Evgeny Mironov, Andrey Sharonov, Ingeborga Dapkunayte, Valdis Pelsh, Liza Arzamasova, Daria Dontsova, Alexey Kortnev, Alexander Tsypkin, MakSim.

On the website you can already find and read 21 interviews with famous artists, musicians, writers, journalists and philanthropists.

Each interview is a personal experience of the hero, his or her story and visual evidence that doing good deeds is easy, normal, natural and accessible to everyone.

Here is a short overview of the interviews with the heroes of #Potomuchtoludi:

“I also try to foster in my children this desire to do good things, the desire to do something not for yourself. And maybe it will be possible to make the foundation work for many years, if I succeed to inherit not only material values but also some kind of vision and approach then, perhaps the foundation can exist forever.”

“And when these kids refuse to eat, this is very bad it means that they no longer want to live, their body stops fighting. I came to her to the hospital and said: “Listen, I don’t understand something, do you want to come to the concert and sing another song, the song “Asphalt”, do you want to sing it?” She turned to the wall, did not react to anything. I say: “I don’t understand something, you sang just once at the concert, just one song, it’s not much." I said: "I am not pressing you, think about it but I hope that you will come and sing at my concert again." That's it, and I left. At that moment she suddenly turned and said: "I want a cutlet." This was a victory!”

“We do what we can do. The huge operation to rescue people who were persecuted for their sexual orientation ended with the newspaper drawing the governments of several countries, European and overseas, into the sphere of its activity. There were meetings with foreign ministers, with government representatives, with ambassadors, and with the European Commissioner for Foreign Affairs, Mrs. Mogherini ... And dozens of these people, again, I don’t give exact figures, dozens of these people got a chance for a new destiny. ”

“Sometimes we do concerts dedicated to special children and each of them is really special, each of them is an individual with his own character, with his own life approach. Many of them are very talented. One boy wrote a lot of wonderful poems and when I arrived in Yekaterinburg I just could not go and see him because I wanted to hug this person.”

“I performed on my knees because it is impossible to perform for a child who is standing in front of you and looking at you from the bottom up. And after our performance, the foundation volunteers and nurses came to us, thanked and said: “Guys, if you have the opportunity to come here in the image of a clown or in the image of some other characters, we will be very happy because children really need it.”

“One of the most important problems, besides many others, is the absence of a tradition of consolidation. I don’t even take into account political issues, politics is the last step in consolidating society. I think it’s because we have such a strange idea: we always begin to build a house from the roof and not from the basis. And we often think that somebody will come and make us happy. But this never happens! Everything will be the same, because the construction can’t start from the roof.”

“You live in Russia in the 90s. Well, can you expect the following scenario: no one has money, the pensions are small and only one theater, let us say, Mariinsky, is financially supported by the state. Of course it is impossible! At those times we all were charity workers: the artists, a significant part of the artists who took the stage, performing the most difficult parts, the best musicians. And as the head of the theater I also didn’t have a salary.”

“It may seem strange that we help people which will never recover. But everyone will die: “ it is only a matter of patience and time”, as Albert Camus said. And no one knows when this will happen to us and how. We just help people to live.”

“I try to help not only to the “Vykhod” foundation. But I became an ambassador of the foundation at the request of Avdotya Smirnova, and I asked her a question: “Avdotya, why do you want me to help?" And she explained to me that the problem of autistic children is that, unfortunately, very often (I hope, the statistics will change) 75% of men leave the family when they find out that their child has this diagnosis. Because autism, on the one hand, does not threaten life as, for example, a complex brain disease, cancer or heart, which often happens with children.”

“At charity events where people come and are supposed to donate money - I am ruthless. I absolutely do don’t mind.  I laugh at people, pit them against each other, point at their shortcomings, in order to annoy them and to get more money of them. On the one hand, I admire these people and sincerely at the end of the auction I thank them for having big hearts and for help. But in the process of the auction itself I calmly take their money out, drag it out of their pocket, and I don’t feel sorry for it at all. Because we are doing the right thing.”

“Now we know that our genetics affects absolutely everything but we also know that genetics can be changed by our lifestyle. Liability to brain attack - this is not a diagnosis. This is a disease which risk factors are inherited. But lifestyle is of primary importance. Therefore, of course, the disease can be averted if you know what to pay attention to.”

“Now in our world there is a problem of cultural and value conflict. These are cultural values, now a cultural war is underway. No matter what they say, some say that it is because of oil or because of business, no matter what they say, but a good scientist will say that in fact, it is a cultural war even including business and oil, even including redistribution of territory. It is still a cultural war because both money and oil are parts of a certain culture, parts of a certain mentality and certain values. ”

“You know, there you are, you have an accordion, your hands can play on it. So go ahead. There are grandparents who want to sing a song that you don't know - “Google” will help us. Be open-minded and spontaneous. The most important thing is to go there with a good intention.”

“We are rarely satisfied with the world around us when we think about it. But in general we understand that this is unfair, it is not good and it is just terrible. For someone it’s something like awkwardness and it’s better to turn away and not think about it, but for someone it’s such an aching feeling that it’s necessary to get rid of it. In my opinion, any civic activity is something like a way of self-realization when you bring the world into harmony with your soul and mind.”

You just understand what you need to do and you do it. When Ingeborga Dapkunayte calls me and says: "Tsypkin, let’s go to the hospice and read some stories".  You just can’t refuse. How can you tell her: “No, I won’t go”? It’s such a small thing you can do.

“The Foundation “Sozidanie” where I have been a trustee for 15 years already, not only me but also my husband, Mikhail Schatz, and then Alexander Pushnoy joined us - we are, in general, people who like humor and irony. It was quite difficult for us initially as it was at the time of the formation of all funds, so it was difficult to hold events feeling sorry for those whom we help. Soon we understood that it is not necessary to be sorry for these people who donate money, because somehow we also want to have fun. Thanks to the foundation we understood that there are 2 things: help and collection of money and after that everything just went perfect”. 

“We are such a state-linked society, we are very strongly oriented towards power and we have very large often overestimated expectations from the authorities and low expectations from ourselves. Well, we are not the power, we are not authorized, - so what can we do? Even in our state potentially civil society has many powers and we do not use all the powers. Civil society begins where there are citizens and in this sense it does not matter who is this citizen - an official, businessman or representative of a non-profit organization.”

“I just do something. Even when it does not work. Otherwise it is impossible. It depends on us only, what we ourselves consider possible to do. “Every day by deeds you imprint your life,” said Solzhenitsyn. By deed! Everyone has the opportunity to determine what you must do on this day. And I do not think it depends on me, it does not. I am just doing like all my colleagues next to me.”

“I am closely connected with the Marfo-Mariinsky Monastery in Moscow and I say: "Help our monastery, please" – People say: "We don’t have money". The question is not in the amount. No money? But you have a car. And now imagine the situation: a woman with a child comes to Moscow for the only free kindergarten for children with cerebral palsy for a month rehabilitation. Here she stands in the middle of the station with the child on her arms because he does not walk. And where should she go? And here you are with the car: "Hello! Let me give you a lift."

“Charity is an investment in yourself. What are we living for? To transform ourselves. And everything can be a tool for self-change including charity. You invest in yourself in your transformation, you invest in changing other people. As one great man said: “If you save yourself - a hundred will be saved around you.” Perhaps, while doing something we don’t notice that we invest in other people around us, even just by our own example. And if there is an opportunity to invest money as well, then this doubles the improvement of our life.”

“My parents simply taught me to help the weak. And you do this not because you want to or because you are ashamed of your own health and well-being, but simply because it is a standard of behavior. It’s the same thing as you have to wash your hands before eating - this is the norm. If you behave differently you feel discomfort.”

You can watch all the interviews on the website of the project потомучтолюди.рф

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