ASTANA – A charity lunch for 50 pensioners and people with disabilities from the Yessil district of Astana was organised at the Al-Farabi restaurant on Oct. 17 with the support of Astana’s Rixos President hotel.
Grateful guests of the charity lunch organized at Rixos made toasts, sang songs and wished everyone happy Eid.
Fifty residents of the district registered with the Voluntary Association of Disabled People in Yessil District, the Silent World public association, the city board of the Kazakh Society of the Blind and the Board of Veterans of Yessil District of Astana came to the lunch, where Rixos management wished them a happy Eid.
Rysty Atygaeva, chair of the board of veterans of Yessil district, welcomed the guests.
“Today our akim (district mayor) helped gather members of societies of the deaf and disabled, the Board of Disabled People and others. It is the opportunity to communicate with each other that is so dear to us at such meetings,” Atygaeva said.
“We are working together with the akimat (district administration) of the district. Akim of our district Sabila Mustafina helps us with all the questions we may have; she helps us organise events like this here. We are very grateful to her. On the day of Qurban Eid I would like to wish all the peoples living here well-being, health and happiness. I would like to wish health for our youth and to wish that they grow up to be real patriots of our country,” she concluded.
Guests at the event made toasts, sang songs and thanked everyone for their part in organising the lunch.
“I would like to congratulate everyone on Qurban Eid and wish everyone health and well-being for their families,” a member of the Board of Veterans said, and continued her toast with a poem she’d written about Kazakhstan.
“We held a lot of events dedicated to Pensioners’ Day. We invited people to Akkaiyn restaurant and Izbushka and Dastur cafes. Every person of age 70 and older received 3,000 tenge (about $20) on this holiday. We would like to wish all our pensioners happy lives and we hope that our people will pay more attention to our pensioners,” chair of the Board of Veterans said.
“I’ve been with this board for 10 years. All of them a very dear to me,” she added.
Every October, the akimat holds events for Pensioners’ Day and the International Day of the Disabled. Traditionally, akimat residents and children are invited to the events in shopping centres and receive food baskets. Those who live in houses with coal and wood heating systems get help with preparing coal and firewood for the winter. Charity dinners are also organised. Children and pensioners get free diagnosis and treatment in the district’s health care facilities.
The Board of Veterans of Yessil district was established in 2008. Its purpose is to identify underprivileged people and those in need of medical care or housing repairs, protect the interests of elderly people and assist in social and domestic issues in the district.
Yessil district has 8,219 pensioners, including 78 World War II veterans, 208 people who worked in the rear areas of the war and more than 500 people with disabilities. The district has 91 public organisations. The cooperative of apartment owners maintains a list of pensioners living in apartments and appoints a chairperson to represent them.
