The steppe overgrown with sweet clover, waste heaps in the morning fog on the horizon, mounds, slumbering and hiding legends about the glorious campaigns of my ancestors — this is my small homeland. Lost in the steppe, surrounded by green gardens and beams – here is my native mining town of Horske. It was here, in a mining family, that I was born, where I grew up and developed in the spirit of the best mining traditions.

My life path was not easy, but I am grateful to my parents for teaching me to appreciate kindness, responsiveness, decency in people, not to be afraid of difficulties, to persevere towards the goal, to make the right decision. I have been guided by these moral principles all my life.

More than 30 years of working as a teacher in local schools have not passed without a trace for me. I have many kind and sympathetic students and their parents, like-minded colleagues, and friends.

I was especially acutely aware of this when the war began, when our peaceful dawns were disrupted by volleys of tanks and “Grads”. Grief broke into every family. Someone went to war, someone left their native places and became a refugee, someone remained to survive here. I was one of them.

With a sinking heart, sitting in the basement during the next attack, I looked into the eyes of my granddaughters - faded children's eyes, in which I saw the fear and the question: "What will happen to us?»

Everyone was saved by the optimism of my father, a veteran of the Great Patriotic War, whose wise words of support helped to survive during the shelling and when the lack of money began – no salaries, no pensions.

My heart sank with despair. At night I prayed and wept, begging all the saints for salvation for our land.

I remember these terrible days now, and more and more often words about humanity, virtues, and charity come to mind. This was confirmed by the first flights of humanitarian aid From the Rinat Akhmetov Foundation to our city in 2015. So many people were saved thanks to those food packages! We were impatiently waiting for that humanitarian aid! And we do that now.

I have many warm words of gratitude to the Foundation volunteers and Rinat Leonidovich himself! Their help was a ray of light in the gray, turbulent everyday life of the residents of the front-line territories, their aid helps us believe that there are still people in our country who can understand, support and help, that they have not lost their strong spiritual backbone, decency, honesty, love for people, compassion and the desire to give warmth of their hearts to others.

I would like to wish you, Rinat Leonidovich, and all the employees of your Foundation great human happiness, well-being, peace and harmony throughout our country in the new year.

Our deepest gratitude to you, Rinat Leonidovich!

Sincerely yours, Rudenko Olga