🎈We’re Turning 10 — Thank You for Being With Us!
Today, on International Children's Day, Podari.Life turns 10 years old. Of course, it's no coincidence that our charity was registered in the United States on June 1st.
Back then, in 2015, we were a small group of longtime supporters of the "Podari Zhizn" foundation who simply wanted to try to help children being treated for cancer in Russia. We set ourselves a modest but important goal: to arrange subscriptions to scientific journals for Russian doctors so they could learn about the latest methods of treating childhood cancer. And we received tremendous support right away—it was incredible how many people believed in us.
This allowed us to also pay for medical dolls that help explain to children what's happening to them and what procedures await them. With help from our first donors, Russia got its first laboratory working on CAR T-cell therapy, an absolutely breakthrough cancer treatment method.
We funded training for the first clinical psychologist in Russia to receive a Child Life certification. We purchased and delivered "giraffes" to Russia—aspirators that look like toys and don't frighten children.
But we couldn't reach for bigger goals—everything related to direct treatment — at that time. Everything changed in 2017 when we decided to try accepting cryptocurrency donations. While previously we could pay for medications worth about $20,000 per year, by 2018, thanks to these donations, we were able to purchase medications worth over $700,000.
This is how we developed a separate program that in 2024 became an independent project—Meds4kids, where we explain what medications are needed and why. We continue supporting doctors, arranging subscriptions for them and helping them participate in conferences, but this accounts for only about 10% of the foundation's program expenses. Around 90% goes to medications for children and assistance with their treatment.
It's difficult to count exactly how many children have received help over these 10 years thanks to you, because one child receives medication, but doctors treat many different children. We estimate around 2,000 children. The total amount for this assistance is just over $3.7 million.
Thank you for being with us, both those who have been with us for a long time and those who have only recently learned about us. We hope that one day our charity will be completely unnecessary and we'll unite for some completely different purpose, but until that day comes, we're grateful to have you as partners in this mission.
P.S. Follow us on social media—lots of news ahead!