GRODNO, 17 December (BelTA) – Volunteers of the BRSM Youth Union from Grodno Oblast received awards of the international initiative Passionate Heart 2020 on 17 December, BelTA has learned.
The public and government initiative Passionate Heart was launched in Russia in 2013. Last year, it became international. Its main goal is to acknowledge children and young people for their courageous and valiant deeds. This year, the organizers received almost 800 applications from 10 countries. The initiative honored more than 170 people, including volunteers from Grodno Oblast.
One of them is Boris Piven, a student of the Novogrudok State Agricultural College, an active member of the BRSM. In 2018, the young man risked his life to rescue a woman that fell through ice.
The awardees also included the volunteers group of the secondary school of the village of Ostrino in Shchuchin District. “The group currently consists of 15 school students aged 14-17. They help elderly residents of the village and also tidy up memorials, war graves, sites of military glory, parks, and banks of lakes and rivers,” head of the group Natalya Sonko said. By the way, the volunteers in association with the local library launched a project to organize leisure activities for elderly residents of Ostrino.
The awards were presented by Russian Vice Consul in Brest Yulia Semenchenko. The winners also got the book “Passionate Heart” that tells the stories of all awardees.
Volunteering is actively developing in Grodno Oblast, First Secretary of the BRSM Grodno Regional Committee Anna Sarosek said. There are more than 4,000 volunteers in the BRSM Youth Union. Young people do not want to remain idle during the coronavirus pandemic. In association with various agencies and public associations, they deliver medicines and food to elderly and lonely people, help them around the house, and support healthcare workers.
