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~~~

Asociaţia
Neemia
working
with
The
Romanian Aid Foundation
Newsletter,
May 2009
This is the Annual Report from
Beni Mirauta, General Manager of Asociatia Neemia
in Romania. It is accompanied by a situation snapshot
featuring some of the 1,650
families and individuals that have been helped during the past year. Both of
these documents are available in printer-friendly format by following the links
at the foot of the page.
The whole activity of Asociatia Neemia during the year
2008 has been developed following especially the target and main objective of
helping more families in a more efficient way and trying to minimize running
costs. All the things that have been achieved during this year are because of
the support given to Asociatia Neemia by The Romanian Aid Foundation (Horley
& Lampeter) and by all who contributed financially or with goods for the
charity. We are grateful too for the goods received directly from DATO and Hands
of Hope Isle of Man. Many thanks to you all!
For many families from this area of Romania the year 2008
has seen a bigger disappointment and decline from their wealth and economical
point of view. Many families here have got deeper in poverty and others in big
debts because of the lack of support, money or jobs. Many families from those
who worked in Italy or Spain lost their jobs there; they come back home in
Romania where nothing better is waiting for them and there is less hope for them
to receive anything.
In these conditions the role of our charity was very
important, thinking about the big number of families who benefited from our
work. Our help has been addressed especially to the families who do not have any
form of income, families with many children, old people, widows, orphans, other
families who need support and do not receive from any other organisation, other
people who need support to integrate them into society, people with medical
problems, youngsters who come out from homes and orphanages where nobody has
taught them about adult life and they need our help, etc. Also other new
families were registered this year along with those who were already registered
before.

During the year 2008 the number of families or individuals
that we helped rose to about 1,650, of which 200 were new families. We made
about 3,500 donations, which means that most of these people have received help
at least two times per year. Also a very important thing was the great joy
brought to many children and families through the 2,200 shoeboxes distributed
during Christmas time.
We collaborate on many occasions
with other charities and churches in the area where we help. Also we collaborate
with the Town Hall, several hospitals in the area, orphanages, some schools and
kindergartens which we help with goods when it is possible. In particular, we
have a very important strong relationship with the charity Centre of Hope, an
organisation that we have worked with for many years, this collaboration being
beneficial for both charities.
A very important thing for Ionela
and me personally was that the charity offered us the possibility to finish our
studies at the university and to complete our qualification for the jobs we do.
We thank you very much for that.
The
Office
This is the place where we do the main
activity of the charity. It is open to the public from 09:00 to 15:30, Mondays
to Fridays. The families that we help come here to be registered and to discuss
their problems with us.
In this office are Maria and myself who
register and interview people who are going to be helped, Laurentiu who is
repairing and fixing computers or other electrical goods ready to be donated, he
also repairs computers which have been donated and have problems afterwards,
plus Ionela (part of her time), who is keeping the accounts and other paperwork
of AN.
Here are brought the goods for being
offered to families who are registered for that day, as well as goods which will
be donated without a preliminary registration. In many situations it is
necessary for the goods to be taken to people's homes by Cornelius or Iulian
using the van.
The
Warehouse
In this place we unload and store
the goods which are sent from Great Britain for Asociatia Neemia; it has an area
of about 400 square metres laid out on two floors. The work at the warehouse starts at
08.00 until 16.00. Here Cornelius and Iulian prepare the boxes for the families
registered for that day.
We managed with our resources
last year to repair and improve a part of the top floor, which enables us to
store more of the goods that we receive, in better conditions. There are more
repairs which need to be made during 2009, but these will be made according with
the financial allowance of AN.
We harvested an impressive
quantity of corn last autumn which we started to take to a corn mill for making
flour and then to donate it to families.

The
Shop
Valeria and Elena work here as
saleswomen; they prepare the clothes, ironing them and putting them on hangers,
then displaying them in the shop and dealing with the customers. Ionela sorts
the clothes which are suitable to be sold and also decides and attaches the
price. Cornelius and Iulian are involved two or three days per week for a couple
of hours per day in the activity in the shop, bringing goods from the warehouse
and sorting out the clothes which are suitable for donation or for being
sold.
During the year 2008 we were able
to maintain a small reserve of clothes, which helped us in supplying the shop
with something fresh all the time. There are now a few other second hand shops
in the town which are bringing clothes from Germany or other countries in
Europe, and the competition is growing, but we are very pleased that we could
keep the income at this level up to now using just about 10% from the goods we
received.

Helping
Here
In July, the area near the border with Ukraine, to the
north east of Dorohoi, was hit by severe flooding. Because we already had tinned
food and dry clothing in our warehouse, we were able to make immediate donations
to the Social Department relief work and to make some visits to people affected
to give them help directly.
Also, because of our knowledge of the area and our good
relationships with many local authorities, traders and other organisations, we have been able to help other
people who want to do projects in this area.

Summary
The income from the shop during the year 2008 was very
good. With the money from the shop and some direct donations we managed to cover
all the necessary expenses for running Asociatia Neemia. From the financial
point of view we tried to maintain a balance between the income and expenses,
we tried to minimise the administrative expenses and
kept almost to the minimum any increases in the wages of the employees.
We haven’t accumulated any debts, we have
paid on time the wages of our eight employees and all our bills; we also had
resources to help many families with money for different needs: food, wood for
heating, electricity bills, medicine, rent, transport to hospitals in other
cities.
I would like to thank you for all the
support you offered to the work of Asociatia Neemia during the year. Thank you
very much for everything and may God Bless You!
Beni Mirauta, General Manager
Financial
Summary (AN Activities)
These tables give a summary of income and expenditure,
compared with last year.
The
following figures are presented in UK Pounds.
INCOME |
2008 |
2007 |
Change |
Shop-derived income ( after
deduction of rent, taxes, etc
) |
37,592 |
28,031 |
+134% |
Other income and donations |
4,486 |
1,137 |
+395% |
Total
income |
42,078 |
29,168 |
+44% |
|
EXPENDITURE |
2008 |
2007 |
Change |
Cash donations to people in need ( Note
1 ) |
3,780 |
2,244 |
+68% |
Salaries, including taxes ( Note
2 ) |
16,320 |
15,515 |
+5% |
Customs, accounts and other approvals ( Note
3 ) |
7,381 |
2,674 |
+176% |
AN transport ( vans
and staff car expenses
) |
6,116 |
4,475 |
+37% |
Office costs ( fuel,
rates, phones, admin expenses
) |
2,088 |
2,089 |
~ |
Warehouse
costs (incl rent,
materials, insurance) (
Note 4 ) |
1,193 |
362 |
+229% |
Miscellaneous (
not included above ) |
489 |
584 |
-17% |
Total
expenditure |
37,367 |
27,943 |
+36% |
Balance of income over expenditure |
+4,711 |
+1,225 |
+285% |
|
Notes
1. Cash donations to people in need have increased by
nearly 70%. (This is in addition to AN's main activity of donating clothing,
food, etc, to those in need.)
2. Direct salary costs have stabilised following last
year's 30% increase.
3. There has been a substantial rise in taxation, charges
and the costs of obtaining statutory approvals.
4. Increased warehouse costs include the maintenance and
improvements undertaken during the year.
Many
thanks to all those who have made donations of time, goods and money to help
this work continue.
This newsletter is published on behalf of the
Romanian Aid Foundation and Asociatia Neemia. For further
information or to be added to the newsletter mailing list please use
our response page or write to us using the
contact details below:
The Romanian Aid
Foundation
179 Albert Road,
Horley, Surrey RH6 7HS or Oaklea,
Temple Bar, Lampeter, Ceredigion, SA48 8BQ
The Romanian
Aid Foundation is UK Registered Charity No. 1060828.
Asociatia Neemia
Str
Spiru Haret nr 9, Dorohoi, Botosani, Romania.
This newsletter is
©
Romanian Aid Foundation, May 2009.
Printable
versions in pdf: This
Newletter ...
oOo ... Situations Snapshot
|