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Ecovolontering in the Sholokhov Museum-Reserve

December 5 is declared International Volunteer Day, in accordance with UN General Assembly Resolution 40/212 of December 17, 1985. 

In Russia, for the third year in a row, this day is celebrated as the day of the volunteer, which was established by the decree of the President of Russia on November 27, 2017. 

The word "volunteer" comes from the French “volontaire” expressing will, volunteer. In Europe, the concept of a volunteer was first applied to volunteer soldiers who participated in the European wars of the 16th century. At that time, general military service did not yet exist there, and when war was declared, volunteers went to serve. 

In Russia, volunteering originated in the pre-Mongol period. The development of volunteering was strongly influenced by the church, which attracted parishioners to help the improvement of church and nearby territories, in cooking food for those in need, in sewing clothes and other matters.

Today, there are many ways in which volunteers can express themselves and benefit society. One of the main and most popular is ecological. Employees of the museum-reserve annually hold various events related to garbage collection on the territory of the protected landscape zone (All-Russian ecological cleanup "Green Spring", "Revival of the Gorokhovsky brook", "Clean Springs - Clean Thoughts", "Clean Land"), greening campaigns ("Preserve the forest to descendants", "Live, the forest! "). Pupils of kindergartens, schoolchildren and students of secondary special educational institutions of the stanitsa Vyoshenskaya, Sholokhovsky district, Rostov region, as well as Russia and neighboring countries take an active part in them. 

In the modern world, voluntary assistance occupies a large place and by participating in activities related to volunteering, we make our small but tangible contribution to a common important cause.

Evgeniya Gudzenko