12 week Christmas Countdown: Gift 4 of 12 - 'A Bag of Groceries'
Relatively few of us experience not knowing if we'll manage to buy food next week. In fact the majority of us in the UK actually get to choose what food we eat depending on what we fancy.
Imagine trying to manage all your monthly expenses on as little as £15 a month. This is the approximate amount of government benefit a mum and baby are entitled to when living in a rural area. With nappies and food costing around the same as here in the UK, you can see that having income from work is essential, not optional.
However, regular work doesn't mean having enough to survive - far from it. The minimum wage here in the UK currently stands at £1170 a month for a 37.5hr week. Comparing this to the minimum wage in Russia of £93 a month - just 8% of a UK income - it is no wonder that orphanage leavers and orphan mums struggle to feed themselves.
Love Russia leaves funding for Mentors to provide a bag full of shopping when young people they are seeking to help find they are unable to manage.
A Bag of Groceries gift at £15 will provide one weeks shopping for a young person; perhaps an orphanage leaver living in a Transition Home or a young orphan mum as she tries to provide for her baby.