5 December – The International Volunteer Day

Dear colleagues and friends,

Today is the International Volunteer Day. And today our country, my homeland of Donbass and my fellow countrymen can feel, as deeply and strongly as never before, the power and importance of volunteering missions. Volunteers are needed, volunteers are relied on, volunteers are trusted. This deserves huge respect!

On this day I wish to express a profound gratitude to all employee-volunteer of our big family of SCM: the staff of SCM Group’s companies, FC Shakhtar, my charitable foundation and the Humanitarian Centre. What you have been doing today by giving sincere help to others is indeed a solid foundation for a peaceful and happy tomorrow.

I also wish to express my deepest gratitude to all our partners and friends who have followed the voice of their hearts and every day devoted 24 hours of their time to save lives and the future of peaceful people, helping those who need it the most: the elderly, children, the sick and disabled. 

What does a person need to help others? I have said it many times at our charitable events and wish to repeat it today.

First, you need good eyesight to see the pain of others. Second, you need a big heart to feel the pain of others as your own pain. Third, you need a clear head to address many challenges and achieve results. But today that is not enough. Today you also need great courage to work in the hardest conditions with a permanent risk to life. 

And I wish to thank you very much, dear colleagues and friends, for your sharp eyes, your kind hearts and your selfless courage.

Thanks to you, all peaceful people in Donbass are getting vital help, can see and feel that they are not left in trouble alone. And that is very, very important. Because only together – hearing each other, feeling each other, and helping each other – can we bring peace back to our home, to Donbass and our country. 

With deepest respect 

Rinat Akhmetov