Yekaterina Kryukova: “Blood donorship is a one-of-a-kind way to save human lives”

28 october 2024

Our October issue of the “About People and Good Deeds” column features Yekaterina Kryukova, an analyst with SIBUR Digital and one of active participants of the company's volunteering efforts in Moscow, discussing her favorite volunteering activities, sharing her experience in going on volunteering trips as part of company-wide events, and recounting the importance of blood donorship.

Could you tell us how many years you have been employed by SIBUR?
– I have been with SIBUR for a few years already. I started out at SIBUR LLC and then transferred to its IT subsidiary where I witnessed its being transformed from IT-SERVICE to SIBUR IT, and then on to SIBUR DIGITAL.

How did it happen that you decided to become a SIBUR volunteer?
– I had been involved in volunteering for quite some time, so imagine my delight when I learned that many caring people at work were also involved in volunteering.

What is your personal volunteering experience outside SIBUR, if any?
– I am particularly passionate about volunteering for the sake of animals. As a child, I used to help take care of adopted cats at home and sanitize the sutures on my neighbor's dog. This was followed by visits to shelters, walking neighborhood dogs, buying food and necessary gear. A few years ago, I set up a help chat to help take care of stray cats in my neighborhood. Together with my neighbors, we helped neuter several cats and also got them treated. At home, we now keep a couple of animals we rescued on the streets, and we also provide transportation services when there is a need to take shelter animals to a clinic or to a pet adoption show. I believe that every kind-hearted act by anyone makes a difference. Often, helping just one animal or person involves a whole string of good deeds performed by a handful of people. For example, we recently hosted a shelter dog who had undergone surgery to remove a tumor and couldn't go straight back to the shelter after the surgery because it needed rehabilitation and care for its stitches. Our two weeks of help ended up being just one link in the whole chain of events needed to save the female dog named Bonya. While she was staying with us, we took her to a grooming salon and made some nice photos of her, so that in the end her volunteer handler could find her a new family.

You have been actively participating in SIBUR’s Donorship Days since 2016. Could you tell us about your experience of being involved in this event?
– I am one of the regulars at this event. I have never missed a single Donorship Day at SIBUR. It once fell on my vacation period, but I was still able to visit the donation station. Donating blood is a one-of-a-kind way to save human lives. We = have not yet succeeded in creating a man-made substitute for our organic fuel, which, if lost in a significant quantities, can have dire health consequences and be even fatal. Through donation, we sacrifice our blood, offering patients a chance to get well, while also benefiting our own health by reducing the risk of a stroke or a heart attack, lowering the risk of cancer, and so on. SIBUR's organization of these events has always been top-notch. It is very convenient to be able to take part in a donorship event without having to take a break from your daily work, dedicating just about 45 minutes to donating one’s blood. I had used to travel to the Blood Center on my own and it took me a long time to travel and wait for both the checkups to be done and the for the blood collection procedure itself to begin. Additionally, I can't help but notice that the degree of warmth and cordiality at SIBUR's events is clearly much higher.

Together with your colleagues, you regularly visit animals as part of the company-wide Big Help for Little Friends campaign. How important do you think it is for employees to be able to take part in activities aiming to help homeless animals?
– My Moscow-based coworkers and I have been visiting dogs and cats at the Nekrasovka shelter. The most sought-after kinds of help include walking the dogs, insulating dog houses and doing some minor fixing up at the kennels. We will be glad if more colleagues would be willing to join us: an extra pair of hands would never hurt in what we do. If anyone would like to take part in our visits or bring gifts, please contact the campaign's supervisor Ksenia Kosheleva at KoshelevaKO@sibur.ru for more details. I think it is very important when people not only help their own kind, but also realize that every sentient being has a right to a decent life, and that Man is not called the apex of creation for nothing as he is endowed both with intelligence and power that can be used as tools to help our friends, both big and small. It is equally important not to forget about the planet we all live on and to adopt eco-friendly habits, so that a walk with your dog can be combined with a clean-up in a forest.

How does volunteering affect your private life?
– I have just come to accept the fact that volunteering is indeed an integral part of my private life. One good way to blur the line between one's private life and volunteering is to get people close to you involved in doing good deeds.

As part of the company-wide From Heart to Heart campaign, you and other volunteers have paid visits to the Elizavetinsky Children's Hospice. What kind of emotions do you feel when you engage with children?
– In my life, I had always been acting with reserve around children. And in my typical environment, I normally spend time either with my peers, or people who are older, or just with animals. But last December I decided that I wanted to go with my colleagues to the Hospice, to try and see what it is that they do out there, and to help organizers of master classes. I was not sure I would be able to communicate with the children in a common language, but upon getting there, I suddenly felt comfortable and inspired. It became second nature to me straight after the first visit and have already returned there many times.

The program of your most recent visit to the hospice featured your own proprietary master class that you had undertaken to organize for the first time. What inspired you to take this step and what sorts of impressions did this experience leave on you?
– I was certainly inspired by my traveling companions. I saw how enthusiastic they were getting when brainstorming ideas about how to entertain these kids, talking about it, and making preparations. I, too, wanted to make these little angels happy somehow. There can never be too many master classes because children really like trying something new! In just one visit, many children manage to make several crafts at different tables. Some of them do everything on their own, others are helped by us or their mothers, but in any case we build a connection, we socialize and joke around. By the way, if any of our colleagues or their friends have ideas on how else to delight these kids, maybe someone is really into magic tricks or clay sculpting, organizing a soap bubble show or something else equally fun, please let Larisa Bondar (bondarlm@sibur.ru), the campaign's supervisor, know about this.

What did the award you received at SIBUR’s 5^th Corporate Volunteering Forum in the Blood Donorship category mean to you?
– This is the second time I am taking part in the forum, and I was of course very glad to get the award! It means a lot that the Management encourages employees to contribute to their mission of good deeds. The Forum has this special atmosphere where you realize that you are in a community of kind-hearted people.

What advice would you give to new volunteers who are just starting out?
– If you are just starting out and have not yet decided what you want to focus on, it is important to listen to yourself but also be ready to try something new! The main thing about volunteering is one's selfless desire to make the world a better place, and this is something that can be done every day in many different ways. If you are introverted, you can still help remotely, for example, by getting involved in smart volunteering or by providing financial support, or even by reposting news items about lost people, finding pet boarding facilities for animals, etc. If you love to be alone with nature, then making birdhouses in the park, cleaning up a riverbank, and so on, could be the thing for you. If you want to help animals but are not ready to travel to a shelter, there is always an opportunity to work with your hands and use tools to build shelter kennels.

Every year, SIBUR holds a contest of its employees' volunteering projects. Do you intend to take part in it and implement your own project with the support of the Formula of Good Deeds?
– I find it to be a very useful initiative. I would like to enter with my own project and I already have an idea for one. But probably not in the coming year.

What are your volunteering plans for the coming year?
– To keep on going and continue helping as much as I can.

More information about SIBUR's volunteers and upcoming activities is available on social media such as VK and Telegram.

In case you missed our previous issues::

Olga Smirnova: “Not every human should have a dog, but every dog should have a human”
Anastasia Shanulina: “Volunteering is an opportunity to surround oneself with people who care”
Anastasia Akhrameeva: “Inclusion helps break social isolation”
Renat Nigmatullin: “It is neat not where cleaning is done, but where people do not make mess”.
Yulia Klochkova: “Volunteering is a norm”
Andrey Khiletsky: “Volunteering is a movement that unites people”

[TYPE] => HTML ) [~DESCRIPTION] => [DISPLAY_VALUE] =>

Olga Smirnova: “Not every human should have a dog, but every dog should have a human”
Anastasia Shanulina: “Volunteering is an opportunity to surround oneself with people who care”
Anastasia Akhrameeva: “Inclusion helps break social isolation”
Renat Nigmatullin: “It is neat not where cleaning is done, but where people do not make mess”.
Yulia Klochkova: “Volunteering is a norm”
Andrey Khiletsky: “Volunteering is a movement that unites people”

)

Olga Smirnova: “Not every human should have a dog, but every dog should have a human”
Anastasia Shanulina: “Volunteering is an opportunity to surround oneself with people who care”
Anastasia Akhrameeva: “Inclusion helps break social isolation”
Renat Nigmatullin: “It is neat not where cleaning is done, but where people do not make mess”.
Yulia Klochkova: “Volunteering is a norm”
Andrey Khiletsky: “Volunteering is a movement that unites people”

Warm Hearts Despite the Weather: SIBUR Volunteers Support the "Nekrasovka" Shelter

Moscow, 5 March

Over 3,000 residents of Nizhnekamsk visited the "The Age of Plastic" exhibition

Nizhnekamsk, 2 March

Results of the "Good Deed Parcel" Campaign at ZapSibNeftekhim

Tobolsk, 20 February