“People started to trust Ukrainian philanthropists more,” this point of view was expressed by Oleksandr Feldman, Ukrainian MP, the founder of the International Charitable Foundation “Oleksandr Feldman Foundation,” at Business Wisdom Summit 2018 in Kyiv.
“Right now, it is already possible to talk about another approach and attitude to philanthropists. And important is the fact that the number of people, who are occupied with charity, increases. According to the opinion poll carried out in February 2018, 70% of Ukrainians rendered assistance to those, who need it, one way or another during the last year. It gives us a chance that soon charity will become massive in our country, and its perception will completely change in our society,” philanthropists Oleksandr Feldman emphasized.
He presented to the participants of the summit some of the key projects initiated in the Social and Humanitarian Multi-Complex Feldman Ecopark, which are currently supported by Oleksandr Feldman Foundation: Centre for Psychosocial Rehabilitation, Centre for Wild, Exotic and Domestic Animals Rescue “Good Home,” Centre for Cheiroptera Rehabilitation, as well as the activities of the World Open Foundation for Animal Rehabilitation and Reintroduction (WOFARR).
According to Oleksandr Feldman, the idea, which underlies the Social and Humanitarian Multi-Complex Feldman Ecopark and its affiliated projects, is in unification of different directions. It includes psychosocial rehabilitation of children and adults, rescue of animals, preservation of rare species of flora and fauna of Ukraine, work with socially vulnerable groups, and much more.
“The state is not always able to immediately and adequately respond to the challenges. And not only our state. And that is the time for civil society, NGOs, and philanthropists to act. The topics, which we develop, appear based on the challenges of time and are deeply intertwined,” the philanthropist emphasized. “Unfortunately, charity in Ukraine exists in difficult conditions. There is no legislation to encourage people to be engaged in charitable activities, like, for example, in the USA or in the range of European countries. And it often happens that consistent philanthropists are still not understood.”
