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Q: WHAT IS THE FOUNDATION'S GOAL?
A: Our goal is to help each child who was injured or orphaned
as a result of this horrific terror act. There are
over 500 children who were injured, many of them very seriously. A large number of
them will require extensive medical treatment and, unfortunately, many will
still remain handicapped for the rest of their life.
There are also a large number of children who lost one or maybe even both of their parents...
Q: WHAT WILL THE FOUNDATION DO WITH MY MONEY?
A: We will distribute the funds directly to the families of
injured and orphaned children. The child's family
will be best able to determine how
to spend the money you donate. As a
possibility, if we
raise enough funds, and subject to
approval by our Board, we may be
able to organize trips abroad for all
children who become orphaned or
handicapped as result of this terror
act. We will try to arrange for
hospitals and entertainment
companies to donate their services
during such trips. Our Assistance policy section
has more information on that.
Q: WHAT ABOUT ADMINISTRATIVE EXPENSES?
A: All personal
donations to this
project will be distributed without any administrative
expenses.
This is possible since everyone
working at the Foundation is a
volunteer, and all facilities,
administrative and travel expenses, etc. are donated.
With donors' permission, we may use a portion of corporate donations for
administrative expenses related to the project. In the past, the only donations used for administrative
expenses were the ones specifically designated by corporate donors for that purpose.
Q:
WHY SUCH A HIGH GOAL
– $10,000,000?
A: We estimate that we will be
assisting about 600 children. More
than half of them have been gravely
injured, handicapped, or orphaned.
They will require substantial
help. We cannot replace parents for
these children, nor can we give them
back their health... The only thing
we can do is to partially remove the
financial burden associated with
long-term medical care, or partially
replace the income the deceased
parent was bringing to the table. Our goal is not to give them
food money for half a year, but to
supply them with an amount which
will be sufficient to cover medical
bills, get education, etc. Our Assistance policy
section has more information on that.
Q: HOW CAN I BE SURE THIS FOUNDATION IS
LEGITIMATE?
A: This is not our first project.
We faced some trust issues when we launched our original project and
collected donations for the 2002 Moscow theater hostage crisis victims. All the money we collected was
distributed to the victims' families. Please see the Nord-Ost
Project Section for details.
Following our 2002 project, we were
approved by the IRS as a
501(c)(3) US Public Charity (pdf). We
are also fully supported by the
Russian Embassy in Washington, D.C.
Please refer to our
Legal Status
page for more information.
Q: DO YOU ACCEPT NON-MONETARY DONATIONS (CLOTHES, TOYS,
ETC.)?
A:
To send non-monetary donations (clothes, toys, etc.) please contact
the Embassy of the Russian Federation in Washington.
Q:
I HAVE MADE A DONATION OR I CANNOT
AFFORD ONE. HOW ELSE CAN I HELP?
A: We have a separate section on this.
Please click here
for flyers, press releases, banners
and instructions. Please note
that additional resources will be added soon, so periodically check back for new
versions.
Q: IS MY DONATION TAX-DEDUCTIBLE?
A: Yes. The Fund is a US Public Charity and has full 501(c)(3)
status. Here
you can find the IRS
Status Letter (pdf).
Donation receipts are required for US tax purposes for donations over $250 and
will be sent to all respective donors.
Q: WHAT IS THE STATUS OF THE DISTRIBUTION FOR THE NORD-OST
PROJECT?
A:
Distribution is complete. Please see the
Nord-Ost Project Section for details. All
contributions received after September 3rd are solely designated for Beslan Project.
Q: DO YOU ACCEPT DONATIONS SMALLER THAN $50?
A: : You can send smaller donations by check
or (preferably) via PayPal. To do this, please, go to the PayPal
web site and send money to donate@moscowhelp.org. We do not have a
special button for smaller amounts, but as you can see in the donations list, we do accept donations below $50
–
every contribution is very important.
Q: HOW CAN I SEND A MESSAGE TO THE VICTIMS?
A:
To send condolences or to share opinions, please visit our
forum. Your messages for the victims will be printed out and delivered. Please, do not send them by
regular mail or by e-mail as we are not equipped or have staff to handle the volume.
Q: WILL YOU ALSO HELP THE CHILDREN OF THE SOLDIERS WHO DIED DURING THE SIEGE?
A:
Yes.
We are helping all children who
became victims of the terrorist attack in Beslan, including the children
of all teachers, soldiers, local
police and others who perished as result of
this tragedy.
Please note that we have not had time to
answer all questions yet. Please come back often as updates will be posted all
the time.
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