Active involvement of big businesses and every concerned citizen in charity is becoming increasingly relevant in the modern world. Practice shows that CSR projects, initiated by market leaders, bring quick and meaningful results, which in the existing economic circumstances, would probably take years to achieve.
There are many successful examples, the Road of Kindness by WOG gas station chain being one of them. Yet another stage of the charity campaign has just ended recently, resulting in new high-end equipment being purchased for two medical institutions. Hennadiy Karlinskiy, Marketing Director at WOG, speaks about the project that helps save thousands of children’s lives.
WOG has been actively helping children for a long time. At first, it gave extensive aid to the orphanages: financing repairs, purchasing clothes and toys. At a certain point, the company decided to approach the issue more comprehensively. There was an astounding statistic, especially for one particular issue: every year nearly 3,500 babies are born in Ukraine with heart failure, which develops during pregnancy. About 33% of these babies leave maternity hospitals without the slightest suspicion that they may be sick, even though they need surgery within hours or days of being born.
These children would have had a chance to live had our medical institutions had modern equipment necessary for diagnosing and operating on the small patients suffering from this condition. However, in public medical institutions the equipment that is the key to saving the lives of the little ones is usually worn out and the hospitals cannot afford to buy new expensive equipment due to critical underfinancing.
Therefore, a countrywide project titled the Road to Heart, which in 2020 got a new name – the Road of Kindness, became an entirely logical extension of our charitable activities. The initiative aims to raise funds to purchase and repair medical equipment and fulfill the needs of children’s clinics and centers all across Ukraine.
I am confident that being a successful business today involves systemic business processes and comprehensive project management. This is the approach WOG has been implementing for over 15 years also in the area of CSR. You can’t get involved in charity from time to time, or in response to a one-time appeal of the society. The path WOG has chosen involves consistent work in a specific area with involvement of the most reliable and transparent NGOs, charity foundations, celebrities, etc., as the partners.
Dobro.ua Charity Platform, Tvoya Opora Charity Foundation and Masha Efrosinina have been long-time partners of the project. The organizations pass an audit annually that proves their integrity and transparency. It is a crucial factor, as WOG is fully aware of the responsibility to everybody who participates in the charity campaign.
At the same time, the Road of Kindness aims not only to help save children’s hearts, but also promote participation in charity campaigns among our customers to attract a wider audience. We are acting as a platform, providing an opportunity to our customers to join the campaign and feel their direct involvement in a good cause.
Therefore, the fundraising mechanics must be clear and simple – large sums are raised thanks to the thousands of concerned people, who make small contributions that are absolutely unnoticeable to the person’s budget.
Absolutely anybody can participate in the Road of Kindness! Every year, WOG produces a limited series of charity cups with a unicorn for the project. If you want to join the good cause, all you need to do is to buy a beverage in this special cup at any WOG gas station or any WOG CAFÉ. The price of the drink in this cup is only Hr 3 higher than in the usual cup. But this way, you can enjoy your favorite coffee drink and do a good deed.
This year, WOG and partners have set an ambitious goal – to raise over Hr 3 million for purchasing two high-end operating tables for the Amosov Institute and a vitally important high-end incubator for the Institute of Pediatrics, Obstetrics and Gynecology (POG).
Notably, doctors at the Amosov National Institute of Cardiovascular Surgery save around 700 babies born with heart failure every year. The majority of the 19,000 premature infants are cared for by the medical professionals at the Institute of POG. These two major medical institutions need help – they need equipment to save lives, as the doctors’ skills and the desire to save lives are not enough. Their success depends on the availability of modern medical equipment.
As the organizers of the campaign, we are extremely happy that the medical institutions will get new equipment soon, because thanks to the thousands of concerned people, we succeeded in raising the required amount in just three months. With the new operating tables, the doctors will be able to perform surgeries of any complexity. The new medical equipment will improve patient safety and give people a chance for a long and healthy life. These operating tables will be used to save 300 children and pregnant women per year.
Also, the Anesthesiology and Intensive Care Unit of the Institute of POG will soon receive a much-needed incubator to care for premature babies. An incubator provides an environment similar to the intrauterine one, with a possibility to adjust automatic oxygen supply, temperature and humidity.
Our Road of Kindness is valuable not only for its end result, i.e. purchase of equipment for the hospitals. It is an essential project, as it also raises an important issue, loudly voices the concerns, informs and encourages the society to take notice of the issue. Moreover, I am confident that one of the key tasks of the CSR is to be a reliable partner of the state addressing the issues and finding solutions, and to raise the bar of transparency and openness.
The Road of Kindness Project has been running for over 15 years. Every year, thanks to every WOG customer, who joined the project, more than Hr 23 million is raised, making it possible to ensure expensive equipment repair at the medical institutions all across the country, purchase new high-end equipment for them, thus saving children’s lives. A new record was set during the previous stage of the campaign, which ended in the end of 2020 – nearly Hr 3.3 million was raised. The money was used to purchase equipment for the children’s operating room at the Amosov Institute, specifically anesthesia machine, patient monitor and a bedside patient monitor. The equipment has been in use for nearly a year, helping the doctors perform surgeries and save children’s lives in a more efficient way.
