On 30 August, President of Latvia Edgars Rinkēvičs took part in the 20th anniversary reception of charity organisation Ziedot.lv at the Nordeķi Manor where he addressed the donors, volunteers, recipients of donations and the whole Ziedot.lv team.
‘I am deeply honoured to celebrate your organisations 20-year anniversary with you, especially because it takes a caring community to give rise to such a huge charity organisation like yours.
Ziedot.lv is a perfect reflection of our society. It highlights our weaknesses or gaps that our government and municipalities have left uncovered. But it also brings out our strengths, our ability to be compassionate and help others. It illuminates our ability to trust.
It is the trust of the community that you have won and maintained that has helped you reach the 20-year milestone. Without this trust, you would only have one or two ‘spectacular’ campaigns at best. This 20-year anniversary not only marks a milestone of your charity’s maturity, but it is also a reflection of our society’s maturation. It marks the point at which one realises that sharing is good. It is when instead of saying ‘deal with it’, you kindly say ‘let’s go, for the good of all’.
Although we are not among the richest world’s countries, last year Ziedot.lv managed to reach a new record in terms of donations. That happened at the time when most households had to change their spending patterns and find additional sources of income. And we all know that you have to keep your head high when faced with new challenges instead of giving up.
Sceptics may say that charity is merely a way to cleanse your soul and boast you kind heart. Maybe. Maybe there are people who donate because of that. And yet, it is a way to make your life better by helping others. We protect our freedom by helping Ukrainians defend theirs. By helping a child, we do not know get well we add more happy people to our community. We show that all children belong to us. By helping victims of the storm, we sow hope that we will also be saved when the need comes.
By helping others, we help ourselves. Survival depends on helping hands of others. Charity is the best medicine against loneliness. By supporting people, we do not know, we acquire new friends.
And I am not trying to convince anyone here that charity is good. Feel free to do as you see fit. But put your heart into it. Contrary to taxes, which is also a way to financially support the common cause, charity is voluntary. You donate if you feel like it, or do not donate if you feel like it, as well.
Today’s ‘birthday child’ is not the only way to help others. Some want to donate money, while others are more inclined to help by participating, coordinating, doing the heavy lifting and helping to carry. I am confident that Rūta Dimante and her Ziedot.lv team will not mind me saying that there are other ways in which you can contribute to a better society. We all know how and why we want to support something. There are those who support environment, others who support retirement care, or Ukraine.
I am neither the first nor the last here tonight to say a big thank you to Ziedot.lv team and everyone who has done at least something to support others. This thank you also goes out to those who reached out for help. It is not easy to collect yourself and ask for help when you are down. There is nothing to be ashamed about. I do not believe there are people who have never ever been on the receiving end of somebody else’s kind heart. And, if there are any, they must come from another planet. Is there life on other planets? Who is to say. There is no credible evidence as of now.
We have learned to give over the years. It is a virtue that will only grow stronger. However, there is still so much we need to learn. Learn to admit flaws. And learn to ask for help. It is a superpower that may come in handy both in our professional and private life. If we follow the Latvian folksongs, we should put our sorrows under a rock and march on with the song on our lips. But our sorrows are still there – under the rock.
Sharing is a great way to put the weight off your shoulders. This means that by sharing our sorrow with many thousands of people, it is broken down to a point where it no longer burdens anyone and can be forgotten. Tomorrow you will resume business as usual. However, tonight we can all look back at the amount of sorrow you have broken down and made bearable by distributing it across caring hearts, thus making Latvia a lot happier than it was 20 years ago. Let us keep making Latvia even happier for our future generation!’ President of Latvia Edgars Rinkēvičs said in his address.
