Наталья Сироткина: «Волонтер всегда получает больше, чем отдает»

28 august 2025

Our August issue of the About People and Good Deeds column features Natalya Sirotkina, chief accountant with the union branch of the trade union organization at BIAKSPLEN, discussing what gave the launch to her volunteering career, sharing some of her personal stories that influenced her urge to help others, and explaining why doing good is much simpler than it seems.

You have been an active participant of various volunteering campaigns for years. What gave the launch to your career in volunteering?
I started out by taking part in volunteering projects initiated by my colleagues. I hesitated applying with a project of my own for the longest time, even though I had had an idea or two. What gave me a push was a personal experience and meeting the right people at the right time. Purely by chance, I met a woman who was a volunteer with a foundation that helps children afflicted with cancer. She told me about the different ways one can become involved in this and introduced me to the foundation’s coordinator. And I took her words “God has no other hands but yours” addressed to me as a blessing.

Why did helping stray animals become a new area of focus for you?
Unfortunately, street cats and dogs are perhaps the most defenseless and destitute beings. And this is all because of us, humans. They can only hope to survive and find a home if helped by volunteers and caring people.

Have there been any personal stories or encounters with animals that influenced your wish to help them?
I’ve been an animal enthusiast since my early childhood. Our family had always kept a lot of pets, and my parents never forbade us kids to bring home stray animals but on one condition: we had to take care of them on our own. On a number of occasions, I fostered kittens temporarily to later find them new homes. Last summer, my son talked me into taking in a stray kitten. At first, I only gave him the permission to keep it for a short period time, but in the end we decided to keep the little one for ourselves.

Please tell us about your Little Paws, Noses, and Tails project: how did it come about and what are its goals?
I had made three applications at once to take part in a contest and I was worried that carrying them all out would take up too much of my personal time. But after I had been reassured of the support of my husband and my colleagues, I decided that while I still have the opportunity to do it, I should absolutely go for it. The project’s goal is to improve living conditions for the animals and to help them find new homes.

What made you decide to pick a particular shelter, the one at the Aibolit veterinary clinic, for implementing this project?
Again, it all happened by pure chance. I had taken my own dog to that clinic and learned that there was a shelter next door. I peeked inside, noted the conditions there, asked if any help was needed, and that’s how the idea of the project emerged. The shelter’s atmosphere is incredibly kind. All the volunteers there are women, but what impressed me most was that the principal helpers are children. Many of the kids show up at set times to walk and pet the animals. They know all the dogs’ names, and take care of their puppies. The children are very responsible about what they do, and as I watched them I became convinced that our nation does have a great future.

What kind of improvements and animal care activities are going to be performed as part of the project?
To begin with, we want to build a kennel for dog-walking so that the animals can be outside on their own at all times. Right now, there’s no such area, and the dogs can only be walked by volunteers. The dogs’ enclosures are also in need of repairs: dogs love to gnaw on something and damage things. We’ve already started some of the repairs by installing fence posts, that’s what our male helpers were responsible for. In the meantime, female volunteers keep on helping to clean dog cages, walking with the dogs, and wash their bowls. Puppies are in need of particular attention. There are many of them, and walking them is not easy because they all tend to run about in all directions. Going forward, I’d like to invite a professional photographer and then post pictures of the animals on social media so that each of them can find a new home.

You have been a participant and a winner of various contests of projects initiated by SIBUR’s volunteers. What is it that you think helps you keep coming up with ideas that your company is eager to support?
There are so many of those around us who need our help, compassion, and support, all you have to do is look. Thanks to the grants of the Formula for Good Deeds, it’s gotten much easier to implement such initiatives, all you need to do is be willing to do it.

Your volunteering journey covers quite a range of various areas, from helping children to implementing eco-projects. What qualities of a volunteer help you succeed in such diverse fields?
These are selflessness, compassion, initiative, sociability, the capacity to trust and delegate, and willingness to sacrifice your own time to help others.

What is the hardest thing in helping stray animals: is it the physical exertion, organization, or the emotional side?
Based on my experience, the toughest thing is to find volunteers willing to help build the kennels. That’s where men’s skills, physical strength, and the knack for dealing with unexpected technical snags quickly come in very handy. Lack of time and conflicting work schedules also contribute to the challenge. But as for the emotional side, I think it’s actually much easier on that front: a volunteer always gets more than he or she gives. Children, elderly people, animals, they don’t know how to conceal their emotions. They’re eager to show that they are happy, grateful, or awed. And that fills you with a hard-to-describe sense of significance and purpose of what you do.

How do you manage to combine your job as chief accountant with such an active life as a volunteer?
Gladly! I love working with my own hands, and I derive a lot of satisfaction from coming up with ideas for, and from running, children’s workshops, from thinking through every detail so that the event could be both beneficial and a lot of fun. Sometimes children ask me this question: “Do you make money with this?” To which I answer: “No, I learn these things so I can teach them to you afterwards.” My family is a huge support. My husband, my children, and my sisters all take part in my projects. The residents of the care home particularly enjoy interacting with children and that’s why I often get them involved in my campaigns. As an example, we did this collaboration with a local kindergarten: the students, together with their teacher and music instructor, recorded a video greeting card on the occasion of the Older Persons’ Day. In the meantime, my own son’s class prepared New Year’s postcards. My colleagues also help a great deal, for which I’m very grateful to them. The only thing I always seem running short on is time. Sometimes it feels like there should be 48 hours in a day.

How can one encourage more people to get involved in helping stray animals?
By talking to them, persuading them, and raising their awareness. I’m someone who likes to keep things private: I rarely post on social media, I don’t have a telegram channel. And I do realize that that’s a shortcoming. Many people simply don’t know about the challenges that families with cancer patients have to deal with, how people live in care homes, or what the conditions are like at nearby animal shelters. We need to be open about that. After all, there are a lot of lonely people who long for contact, who want to take care of others, but simply don’t know where or how to apply themselves. That’s why it’s so important to share information and give people good examples.

What would you say to someone who is thinking about volunteering but hasn’t yet taken the step?
Doing good is really easy. Start small. And all the warmth, love, and joy you can share will definitely come back to you manyfold. Trust me on that!

You can learn more about upcoming good deeds in the SIBUR’s Volunteers group on VK and on Telegram.