Volunteer ID card of Mira Dernovskaya at Hesed

This is my ID card as a volunteer of the Jewish Charity Center Hesed Avraam. The photo was taken in St Petersburg in 2000.

When I retired I had a lot of spare time. My friends and I often went to the movies, to theatre, or for a walk in the Tavrichesky Garden, sometimes even had dinner at the Metropol restaurant, here prices during the day were significantly lower than in the evening.

In the summer we would go out of town to Repino, Solnechnoye. But then the standard of living of pensioners went down sharply, and we could no longer go to cinema or theatre, we couldn't even afford to drop in to a café any more, to say nothing of a restaurant. But I am an energetic person.

I heard about the existence of the Jewish Center Hesed Avraam. I went there at the end of 1997 and offered myself as a volunteer. And now I work there for the program called Humanitarian Help.

The opportunity to help people that really need help makes my life more exciting. I dine in Hesed's charitable restaurant. I attend very interesting cultural events, listen to lectures on the revival of Jewish traditions. All this is very important to me.