After the ball

The International Women’s Club of Kyiv (IWCK) recently ended its annual competition to award grants to local charities. This year the grants went to more than 20 organizations, including Sun Shine, Skhodynky, and St. Vincent. For the most part, these benevolent associations help children, women, the elderly, and physically handicapped individuals.

Now that Crystal Klimavicz (US) has completed her term as president of the IWCK, it is time to sum up the club’s performance in the past year. Mrs. Klimavicz has every reason to be proud: in 2008 the IWCK’s charitable projects raised more than 160,000 dollars. Part of this money has been channeled into the charitable organizations that won the club’s grant competition. Avril Bailey (UK) has been elected as the next IWCK president and will now be responsible for the club’s charitable projects.

Mrs. Klimavicz explained that most of the money is raised at the annual Christmas Fair, held on the first Saturday of December, and the Spring Ball in April. This year’s ball raised over 40,000 dollars. Every December the club announces its charity grant competition. These grants are slated exclusively for benevolent associations operating in Kyiv and Kyiv oblast. In April the club announces the results of the competition, and the IWCK sponsors the grant-winning organization until the next April. The women’s club has already assisted Skhodynky, an organization that helps autistic children. In addition to funding the repairs of its premises, the IWCK purchased special educational toys for the children. The club mostly assists charitable organizations with renovations, re-equipment, and purchases of clothing, food, and household appliances.

Some club members run their own benevolent programs. Beate Schober, who has been with the IWCK for seven years, owns a company called Abea Relocation, which helps newcomers to Kyiv find homes and jobs and get acquainted with the city. Mrs. Schober does not consider her work to be benevolent. In her 12 years in Ukraine’s capital she has never given money to anybody: it’s best to help them find a job or home, she said. Then you can be sure that your money hasn’t been wasted. During the three years of its existence Schober’s Abea Relocation has helped more than 50 Ukrainian families adapt to Kyiv. Although this is not a high number, AR’s experts are keeping track of these families, clearly an indication that the company values quality over quantity.

Another IWCK member, Marcia Schmidnechler, copes with similar tasks, except she helps foreigners. “I know from my own experience that it is hard for a foreigner to settle down in a strange city, let alone a foreign country. That’s why I chose this line of activity,” she explained. “I organize sightseeing tours of Kyiv, help people find the information they need, and arrange various IWCK functions so that the women can get to know each other better. Since I am not directly involved in charitable activities, I try to get as many women as possible to join my club. They pay a membership fee in the form of a charitable donation, and this money goes to fund benevolent projects.”

In fact, enlisting new members is also one of the IWCK’s priorities in the upcoming year, because more charitable projects can be carried out through the members’ combined efforts.