Hello, my name is Alisa Kilibaeva, and I am a volunteer. Since childhood, I could never remain indifferent if someone needed help. I felt a strong need to assist and improve the lives of others. As I easily connect with people of different ages and always seek active communication, my creative talents pushed me to find ways for self-realization.

Volunteering has united all my aspirations and desires. Today, I actively participate in the community's life and various projects, as well as city and community events. I volunteer in projects like "Shabbat as a Separate Art Form," "Rapid Response Group," and "Food Security." I also enjoy working with children, so in the summer, I help in the children's day camp and conduct classes as part of informal education at the day center.

Additionally, I assist in organizing themed evenings for youth and participate in AJT international quizzes, intellectual games, and represent the community at various events. Volunteering has opened up unlimited opportunities for self-realization, and most importantly, I feel part of a significant and important mission to help others!

My name is Alina. I am 21 years old. I am studying to be an economist. I’ve got acquainted with the Jewish community, starting with the Taglite. After this unforgettable trip, I started going to the youth club and there I learned about the volunteer center. I’ve been a volunteer in several directions for several years.

I feel the greatest pleasure from my volunteer activities with children. It is an amazing feeling when the little eyes of children start to shine, when you appear.

Vadim Igorevich Isaev, 41 years old, doctor. Hobby — fishing.

Vadim Igorevich joined the community in June 2016. His first action was shoveling the snow and ice near the community. He also actively participated at the community events, congratulating the elderly members of the community. Vadim Igorevich took part in charitable volunteer actions at the infant home. At the moment, he is organizing and participating in the «Jewish Ural» project.

Vadim takes part in the volunteer movement, following his heart.

His motto: “Do good on Earth, do good for the benefit of others!”

I am 26 years old, at the moment I am the student of the second higher education in the HAZE and the private teacher of English. Actively, I participate in the project since June, 2015. The Holocaust phenomenon was always interesting for me, and the stories which we learn from our respondents are very interesting too. We do that only thing that we can make for the died Jews 75 years later after Shoa — to hold in remembrance their stories until they have consigned to the past at all. At the present moment, in the project we want to expand our geography: to find the activists in other cities of Russia and the Post-Soviet countries to capture as many as possible respondents.

Elizabeth Koshkina, 45 years old. Economist. She likes to travel in Russia.

Elizabeth was actively involved in the life of the Jewish community of the city after returning from Israel in 2011. She teaches Hebrew and introduces children to the traditions of Jews abroad. Here Elizabeth got acquainted with the Kesher project, through which the scrolls of the Torah were given to the Jewish community of Nizhny Tagil.

Participation in the volunteer movement allows Elizabeth to maintain a connection with Jewry in an assimilated society.

The last project, in which Elizabeth takes part, is called the Jewish Ural.

Hi all! My name is Victoria, I am 28 years old. For more than 8 years I have been a volunteer in the Republican Volunteer Center. There was a time when I came here from time to time, but in 2019 I returned to volunteering in full force by participating in the Good Deeds Day. I believe that such large-scale events are a very convenient and suitable opportunity for those who want to try their hand at volunteering. I do volunteer work in my free time from my full-time job and other hobbies. I love creativity and I coordinate 2 wonderful projects: "IT Grandmother", where my friends, colleagues, and I teach older people computer skills, and "Our hands can do everything" - art workshops where everyone can try new techniques or remember what he once knew. Master classes are held online for both volunteers and elderly clients of Hesed. For me, volunteering is not only mutual assistance, but also an opportunity for self-development and communication. Everyone can share their knowledge and skills, even if they are not an expert or a master. Every contribution is important, no matter how small it is. I believe that such an atmosphere reigns in the Republican Volunteer Center, and this is one of the reasons why we all love this organization so much. The second reason is the connection with Jewish traditions, culture and community. This is exactly the place that allows me to be closer to my roots! Grow and help make this world a better place!

I am 28 years old, I have graduated RGSU in «Sociology», a year I have studied in Jerusalem in «Machon Meir» within the program MASA. I have two children. In the project «Memory. Help. Generations» I am from its basis. In 4 months from the participant I have passed into the  coordinators of the volunteers. Now I am, mainly, engaged in the processing of the incoming calls from elderly people. Thanks to the project, I can do something socially significant, often without leaving the house that for me, as a mother of two small children, is very important. During my work in the project I have got acquainted with remarkable people: as volunteers, and those from whom I collect the  information about the dead relatives, for further transfer to the museum «Yad Vashem», I have learned a set of interesting stories of life, I have tried to help to those people with something whom I face on the work in the project, together with the other volunteers.

I am a journalist. Listening is an important part of my profession. Listening is also necessary in volunteering, and I started to be a volunteer by making calls to lonely elderly people, and congratulating them on their birthday. Despite the fact that the congratulation was informally and quickly said, I invented every wish individually for everyone. I felt on the other end of the line that wards were happy and smiled a lot during the phone call. And they had a desire to tell a little bit more about themselves.

Then there was created by chance “There is Time” project of the League of Volunteers by EJCC Menorah. This is the project, in which I was completely in. And it seems to me, that I brought it to the highest point. I had various interesting tasks: to come up with what dishes to cook from the Jewish cuisine, arrange everything, find interested residents, held a delicious master class. Is this altruism? Maybe it is. Sharing energy and knowledge is altruistic for sure!

Hello! My name is Polina Maleeva, I am a medical student and I dream of treating children in the future. In my free time, I love bonding with my family. I also like reading books, learning foreign languages. I also love music and sometimes play the piano. My childhood friend brought me to the volutary centr. Since childhood, I have been trying to help people and take care of them, and I am happy that I can be useful to someone. The most important thing is to remember that we are people, and helping each other is very important and necessary!

I am 42 years old and I am working as an engineer.

My hobbies are knitting, embroidering, making toys, sewing, creating various handmade crafts with children. I hold classes on knitting and embroidery with the middle aged and older people with pleasure (if it is necessary). My volunteer career started with creative activities for children and mothers.

Hello, my name is Katya Prokofyeva, and I'm 18 years old. I work as a barista, and in my free time, I'm passionate about visual arts and play the ukulele. In fact, since joining the community in October 2022, I have been volunteering for a whole year now.

Why did I start volunteering? Well, here in the community, it seems like almost everyone is somehow involved in volunteering. Initially, I just came to join my friends, and in the end, I enjoyed it so much that I decided to stay.

Volunteering gives me a sense of being part of something big and good. It's an opportunity to make a contribution to making the world a better place and helping others. Because when you're a volunteer, you feel like a part of a society that cares for each other.

My wish for all volunteers is to always stay resourceful! Don't lose your inspiration, kindness, and the desire to make the world better. Keep up your noble work!

Having the MD degree in Medicine, she is a radiologist, Fruma Zalimanovna was born in 1929. Despite her not young age, she is full of energy and enthusiasm, which are so necessary in volunteering. Our heroine started her social work in 1946. Fruma Zalimanovna is the Assistant of the Chairman of the Medical Council of the University and a part-time mentor for the student volunteer movement «Milky Way». To the Volunteer Center of the synagogue she was invited in July 2013 as a consultant for the Organization of the Jewish Museum, then she became a principal consultant. Fruma Zalimanovna says that she is engaged in volunteering solely by ”The Call of the Soul”. She is totally sure that it is especially important today, because our society has lost its moral values. Fruma Zalimanovna also manages to write the books in history and in medicine.