CHARITY

This section highlights some of NEK’s charity activities, people whom we’re trying to help, and charity projects we’re involved in.
Certainly, the ultimate goals of any commercial company are success and profit. Yet materials gains become worthless if business neglects humanitarian values. That’s why we strive to do all we can to help those in need.
Over the years our Company has established itself as a charity-aware organization; NEK traditionally provides help in such areas as:

• Help for children.
• Culture and education programs.
• Protection of historical and cultural monuments.

Health programs for children
Kids believe in miracles. They believe in Santa Klaus, in wizards and fairies, in funny gnomes. Kids believe that good always conquers evil, and that any tale has a happy ending. They believe that even when things turn really-really bad someone big and strong will interfere and will put things right.
We grownups can make such miracles happen. It’s simple: we only need to give children what they need most – love and protection.

Helping kids with eyesight problems
NEK Company participates in a joint UN/UNESCO program ‘Give each blind child a book’. The program helps to involve children with impaired eyesight into the system cultural values and expand their capacity to adapt and live a full life.
Unique convex books are created in close cooperation with prominent psychiatrists and best illustrators.
The program teaches children love for reading and desire to learn. Besides illustrated books support them emotionally and motivate them join other children in common games. Thanks to the program the world becomes brighter and happier in the eyes of a blind child.

Restoration of architectural and historic monuments
One of charity venues NEK is involved in is restoration of architectural and historic monuments. Sadly, there were periods in the history of our country when numerous objects of our cultural heritage had been irrevocably lost or badly damaged. Our duty today is to do our best to restore and protect those of them that still can be saved.

Ozeretskaya Church
The story of St. Nicholas Church in Ozeretskoye village is a typical one, same happened to thousands of Russian churches. Built on stiffly earned parish donations it underwent heavy trials in the XXth century — desecrated shrines, total devastation, and slow decay.
Worships renewed in 90s, after decades of oblivion. Today the church is being renovated. Thanks to the effort of many people this architectural monument will be restored to the village of Ozeretskoye, where believers will feel closer to God once the temple raises from ashes, and that’s the main thing.

Charity Fund 'Author’s Song Archive Service'
History and culture
Author’s song plays an immense role in protecting and transmitting historical and cultural knowledge. Heir to the Russian folk songs, gypsy and town romances, the author’s song reflects history of the Russian people, its spiritual seeking in time.
First social and cultural activity related to author’s song surfaced in early 1950s. By mid-century it became possible to record songs on home tape-recorders, and so called ‘magnet-publishing’ whose impact was invaluable started to spread. Audio records of Vysotsky, Okudzhva, Galitch, Vizbor, Ancharov, and others started to appear. Vladimir Vysotsky said at one of his concerts: ‘…if there were tape-recorders in Pushkin times, many of his works would have come down to us as recordings only’. The advent of tape-recorders not only increased songs’ lifespan, but also helped their unbelievable spreading free of Soviet censorship.
Author’s song heyday falls in the period between 1960s and 1980s. One may call this period a «mass movement of author’s song». By mid 1970s the movement consisted of more than 200 thousand active members all over the country, by the end of 1980s – over 500 thousand (organizing committee of the festival named after V. Grushin near Samara reported about 165 thousand attendees in 1988).
It’s extremely important to note that the movement was not limited to song-writing and performances, not even to songs distribution on audio tapes. It was one of the few manifestations of mass social activity within which other cultural initiatives were born: clubs, regular meetings, festivals, seminars, conferences, systematic literature and audio sharing.
As the movement grew tape records multiplied also that mostly formed private collections. Apart from ‘magnet-publishing’ the movement produced galore of other documents: typed and hand-written publications, symbols and accessories, photo, and video by late 80s. Private hands also preserved these collectibles.
Numerous collections exist today in our country and all over the world that preserve historic and cultural heritage of the author's song movement.
About Archive Service
Historic and cultural knowledge of the author's song movement lives on but access to it is cumbersome if possible at all. Besides existing collections are extremely short-lived and might disappear any time leaving no trace.
'Author’s Song Archive Service' charity fund (ASAS) is earnestly concerned with this problem. Its main goals are:
Collection and categorization of the author's song movement documents;
Creation and support of depositories for archives of songs and poetry;
Setting up of an audio and video studio for the author's song and poetry;
Providing access to preserved materials;
Search for, restoration and retention of archives and collections of author's songs and poetry of the ХXth and  ХХIst centuries.
Earnest attempts to preserve this heritage have been made since 1980s. To name a few: D. P. Sokolov's publication of the 'Events And Documents' bulletin dedicated to the history of the author's song; author's song bibliographic reference composed by R. A. Shipov; 'Computer Archive of the author's song' project; a project for physical storing restoring of audio records, transferring them to a more reliable media. Besides, similar projects have been undertaken by several author's song centers (Vysotsky Museum, Moscow Center of Author's Creativity, similar regional centers in Saint-Petersburg, Krasnoyarsk, etc.).
In 1995 a group of like-minded friends starts a new approach to creation of author's song archives. Thus the 'Computer Archive of the author's song' project comes into being. Leading members of the project are provided with computers. A qualitative break-through occurs thanks to the Internet communication between the archivists. Opportunity to store archives electronically appears.
A grant under the title 'Consolidated inventory of author's songs collections of 1950s—1990s' received from the Soros Foundation's 'Open Society Institute' in 2000 allowed to summarize five years of the archivists labor, evaluate the movements archive volumes, plan the project's future development.
A great number of private collections that required immediate restoration had been discovered. Intense salvation works had started. That's when the term 'AS Archive Service' came into being. ASAS movement gathers momentum acquiring a scale of a non-governmental organization.
Currently the archive totals dozens of thousands of audio and video records, photos, and other memorabilia of the author's song movement.
In September of NEK had founded the 'Author’s Song Archive Service' Charity Fund.
A new phase in conservation of the national heritage had begun.