Targeted Assistance: 12 years of mercy
“Targeted Assistance” is one of the first large-scale programs of Rinat Akhmetov Foundation, which has been operating for 12 years already. The main principle of its work is to help here and now, and the main priority is to provide assistance when it comes to life and health of children. With the outbreak of hostilities in the east of the country, over 50,000 people received the assistance. In peacetime, the Foundation systematically and massively helped over 20,000 residents of Ukraine.
Three and a half years ago, Rinat Akhmetov set the Foundation the task to save lives of people caught in the zone of military conflict. The Humanitarian Center was established to assist the war-affected civilians. The "Targeted Assistance" has become part of the largest humanitarian mission in the country.
“Since 2014, the number of appeals has become an order of magnitude more,” says Iryna Temerko, the head of the "Targeted Assistance" programme. “Of course, there was panic among people. A number of state programs, providing children with asthma, diabetes, epilepsy with the necessary medications, stopped operating in uncontrolled areas. Families with seriously ill children were left alone with their misfortune. At some point, vital medicines disappeared from pharmacies. Even those families who had money left could not buy them. So, taking into account people's requests, a number of projects aimed at quarterly, regular delivery of medications to children were launched within the "Targeted Assistance" programme."
Over three years, more than 10,000 people received assistance for treatment, half of them were children, including those who were hit by the war. They not only were operated on in a timely manner, which helped to save their lives, but also underwent rehabilitation, including psychological support.
35 seriously ill children with congenital heart disease have returned to active, full-fledged life thanks to the installation of an expensive occluder under the "Healthy Heart" project.
There are still numerous calls on the hot line of Rinat Akhmetov Foundation with requests for assistance and salvation. The Foundation employees, people who are not indifferent to someone else's trouble, are always ready to listen, support and promptly help those who are in trouble.
